Project: 12" TFT in a Plexi Case

[craigr1982]

Some of you might have seen some of these pictures on a modding thread but this is my first worklog so bear with me. Also my camera is a bit low spec but I am looking to borrow a better one and throw some better pics of my rig up.

I wanted a PC that was original and that would look good, I thought about building from scratch but found a cheat. A kit that had all the parts to make whatever I wanted with a mobo tray included for less than it would cost to have the entire thing made from sheet metal.

So I started by buying this kit, called a lubic kit.

http://www.aerocool.us/aerocool-files-v3/lubic/kits/lubic-combo.htm

This kit is a bit of a pain in the ass to start with, you have to work out where to put sliders in order to mount further pieces and I found myself virtually ripping the entire structure apart just to put in one slider.

Finally I finished my case, Version 1.

As my imagination is slightly limited it was just a basic ATX case on wheels, I didn’t take any pictures as I didn’t like the design. So I dismantled it and started all over again.

This time I had more of an idea what I wanted to do, I started with the top and worked down, mounted the motherboard tray at the top and made it so it slid out, allowing easy access. Then further down still I placed the PSU, now I ended up with an inverted ATX design. The only problems I had were the drive mounts, I wanted to be original so I devised a way to mount the CD’s vertically and place the HD’s vertically below them.

This caused a problem with airflow so I moved the HD’s to the side of the case but still vertical, allowing space for a 140mm fan in the centre.

Now for the screen, the exciting bit.

I tried to get a 12” Touchscreen but found they were too pricey so I settled for a 12” TFT from Ebay.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010055.jpg

Got it and took the casing off, drilled a few holes in the mounting plate and fixed it into my case but portrait not landscape. On the front where normally CD drives would be.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010056.jpg

I rigged a VGA lead internally to give me output and made a connection from a molex to the Power pin I needed, (Not ideal but it will last for a while).

I mounted the rest of my components and then fired it up, the screen worked although still set to landscape.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010064.jpg

After a while of playing around with the Nvidia Desktop I got my screen to run at 600x800 at a 90degree angle at a refresh of 80hz, threw on a RocketDock to allow easy application loading and then it was done.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010061.jpg

From then on I spent about 1 week measuring all the externals so that I could have some Plexi cut. I went on to Ebay again and found some black gloss plexi at 3mm.

It arrived and I talked to friend of mine who has a CNC machine, gave him some drawings with all the measurements I needed, including holes for CD trays, fans etc and send him the plexi.

A few days later my plexi returned all cut and ready to mount, but I needed holes drilling to mount it onto my case. (Pics to follow later)

[Aero]

cool. I think thats the biggest LCD I have ever seen on the front of a case. Very nice job.

[craigr1982]

Glad you like. should look cool when its done, i will keep you posted

[notochord]

that is sweet

[craigr1982]

For any who are interested here is the plexi. Needs some filing down in parts but it will soon be ready for fitting.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010067.jpg

Hopefully it will be finished soon.

Any comments are welcome as always.

[craigr1982]

Here are some more pics for you to look at.

People have been asking for pictures of the screen so here they are.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010075.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010077.jpg

There will be more pics when it has some more sides on.

Enjoy!!

sorry about the size i will edit later on.

[t3htiddly]

how hard was it to rig the VGA lead?
and what kind of work did that entail?

awesome to see such a big screen for a mod. 12"... dang. haha

and speaking of that, do you think it would be hard to use a screen like this? (i hear its harder to use a laptop screen)...
http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-Philips-15-inch-15-XGA-TFT-LCD-Screen_W0QQitemZ103001425382QQihZ013QQcategoryZ315 69QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

.. sorry to ask so many questions. just a n00b to modding, and curious. :)

[craigr1982]

The VGA lead is a bit of an issue with me at the moment as it currently come out the back of the gfx card and then back in through a hole in the plexi at the back (there will be pics up soon) then it routes round the inside of the case and into the screen. I think its a bit of an eye sore so I am trying to find a better way of doing it. My screen has a VGA port so no modding involved really.

It looks even better in the flesh, my camera is a little dodgy as the colours look washed out on the pics.

Laptop screens are always harder as you have to try and figure out the connections. Laptops normally have an internal conection that you would have to rewire into a DSUB or SVideo. I would try and get some wiring diagrams for the laptop it came from (google) or maybe contact the manufacturer and ask them what wire does what.

Everyone is a n00b once, so dont worry about it.

[Reaper]

Is that freelancer on the screen??

[crenn]

As far as I know, that's not freelancer.

[craigr1982]

no its a screenie from X3: Reunion.

[craigr1982]

OK , I have just finished some more modding and its nearly there. I have cut out 2 holes in the top for usb connections and power, reset etc. I just have to find something to use on the cdroms to eject them. Unless anyone knows of a script that can add to an icon to add to my quicklaunch for example??

Cant get my waterblocks made so I will have to buy some. Got to buy 2 xeon waterblocks and a dual 120mm rad. works out about £105 plus I want to change both my cd drives and I think SATA will be better, I'm looking at the top scorer from CUSTOM PC

Keep your comments coming

[craigr1982]

Ok more Pics as promised.

Rig from front
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010095-1.jpg

Rig top with CD open. (not stealthed yet tho )
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010087-1.jpg

Front and Side Veiw
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010084-1.jpg

Front other side
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010083-1.jpg

now the fan at the front is my old one, my new 14cm one hasnt arrived yet. Bloody Royal Mail, what are they playin at??

and my water cooling isnt set up so it runs a little on the warm side. Both CPU's are idling at 45C but it is coming along.

Comments are welcome as always

Edited ( Pics resized)

[GT40_GearHead]

like it! nice and LCD :D

[crenn]

OK , I have just finished some more modding and its nearly there. I have cut out 2 holes in the top for usb connections and power, reset etc. I just have to find something to use on the cdroms to eject them. Unless anyone knows of a script that can add to an icon to add to my quicklaunch for example??

Cant get my waterblocks made so I will have to buy some. Got to buy 2 xeon waterblocks and a dual 120mm rad. works out about £105 plus I want to change both my cd drives and I think SATA will be better, I'm looking at the top scorer from CUSTOM PC

Keep your comments coming

How handy are you with a soldering iron? Because it's possible to hook up a small micro switch (or some other type of momentory switch) to where the switch contacts are on the PCB of the drive, by doing this, you can effectively extend the wires (assuming that you use an good gauge wire to prevent power loss) and place a switch anyway you want, if you're clever enough you can make a switch look like a screw, very handy if you want to stealth the switches.

You could try making the water blocks your self, just remember to lap the base well. From what I've seen, the only advantage of going to SATA DVD Drives is the fact that the cables are thinner/smaller. If you have cash to burn then go for it, if not, use a couple of rounded IDE cables or make a 'square' IDE cable.

[craigr1982]

Crenn,

A guy on a forum has made a program to eject the drives for me. Its just an icon on my RocketDock bar now so its a simple click away. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I have a friend who was at uni and he was going to make them with the kit at uni but he has left for work experience now so cant do it.

As for the SATA drives I read a review in Custom PC Magazine about some SATA DVD Writers and they are very good and only cost less than £30 so thats not really money to burn, its only a little more than some IDE's.

Keep the comments coming

[crenn]

I'll admit I don't have much experience with SATA DVD Writers, but that's a decent price for a Burner, I've seen some Sony drives which cost more than that! I don't read Custom PC Magazine myself, but I've seen it in newsagents. Anyway, I won't steal your thread, but you could still do the block yourself, all you need a drill press (depending on your design) it's amazing what some carbide drill bits and some masking tape can do. Anyway, it's your choice.

As for the ejecting drives, does the program also inject them as well or do you have to give the tray a little nudge?

[craigr1982]

Hmmm I dont know then, see now you have got me thinking.......

The program can inject them too but I will probably just nudge them closed as I have done with all my drives so far.

[DaveW]

Looks Sweet!

-Dave

[craigr1982]

This modlog is currently suspended as I will be away for 2 weeks, my watercooling is here though so when I return I should be able to complete my project and finish the log.

[crenn]

Wicked, have a nice trip, and we'll be waiting. ;)

[Mach]

See this thread for info on scripting an eject

http://www.scriptinganswers.com/Community/DiscussionForums/tabid/154/view/topic/forumid/7/postid/8475/Default.aspx

[craigr1982]

I havent died just things have been hectic since I came back from holiday on sunday.

I did however find some time to do a little modding last night.

I mounted the USB and power / reset switches on the top panel.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010090.jpg

The switches are push button illuminated switches from Maplins and the button it self is 3mm high, the same as my plexi. So they are flush with the top. The green will be my power switch with power led and the reset and hdd activity will be red. The picture doesnt really do it justice so you will have to take my word for it.

It looks good.

[elbarto241]

wow, i like the way you mounted your drives. very creative and unique!

[craigr1982]

wow, doesnt feellike this long ago since i posted on this worklog. Sorry guys for the lack of update.

Hit a bit of a stopper at the moment. having trouble fitting my 240mm rad in the case. its 10mm too long!

anyway here is the kit i got.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/P1010100.jpg

Thermochill PA120.2 rad
2x xeon tdx blocks
thermotube 6" res
Laing D4 pump
1/2" Tubing
jubilee clips and extras.

I think I will have to have the rad mounted externally but I dont want to spoil the look of the case so maybe at the rear of on top if i have to.
I was planning to have it mounted on the base of my case but the psu is in the way.

My current idea is to have the pump on the base of the case and the res upright inside. Just need some ideas on fixing this damn rad on.

Any suggestions?

[meticoeus]

If you can raise the PSU higher in the case, you might still be able to mount the rad under it. If not, you can consider mounting it behind the case like this:

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/3272/concepttv2.png

as it doesn't seem to fit inside without moving something. If you try that, you can probably work it into the theme of your case pretty easily with a little more plexi and there should be room either on the side or behind it for wires.

[craigr1982]

Right ok. been studying my case for bleedin ages today with the rad in hand trying to fit everything in.

Solution: Cant get it internal so i am going to mount it in a rad box on the top. Hopefully plexi enclosed with a mesh top. I did think about meticous solution but i cant move the psu much more and it would stop my mobo tray from sliding out the back. thanks though
The pump will be mounted on the base of the case and the res will be ummmm.... yeah the res will be internal at a location as yet undecided.

Should the Rad box have the fans in too? or should the fans be in the case? does it make a difference?

I know i need to cut the tubing holes but if the fans need to be in the case rather than the rad box i need to have the top cut again for fan mounts.

Edit: reading this back it's gettin me confused i think i will show you what i mean

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/rad.jpg

[craigr1982]

Double post as been doing a worklog elsewhere too

i have been thinking about having a new top made and vacuum formed that will hold the rad and fans too. will look a bit like a ram scoop on the front of a car. but with mesh on the top.

something like this.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/untitled.jpg
just a quick sketch and not to scale in any way shape or form

will that be better?

I am also working on a different idea altogether like raising the case slightly to fit everything in. sketch to follow. (seem to spend more time sketchin than fittin the damn thing)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/untitled2.jpg
its got the pump and rad below in a seperate compartment the res is still where it is. i figure where the res is i can see the level from the outside but it isnt fully outside, only half of it is, (not sure whether the pic shows that properly.)

Opinions Needed!!

Please put in your post which you prefer.
1 - the rad box roof vacuum moulded etc or
2 - extension with watercooling in.

firstly thanks for the feedback guys.

i spoke to a friend who is involved with plastic moulding etc and he can do a radbox but it wont be until october as he is mad busy at work. Dont want to wait until then so I have extended my case. (thank god for LUBIC) only took about 30mins till i had it how i wanted.

However my case is now officially a BEAST measuring a whopping 57cm tall (not including castors) 46cm long and 24cm wide.

Of course this throws most of my plexi panels out, front, back and sides. i cant get any plexi till at least the 16th as my supplier is on holiday till then.

pic below with my NEW 8mb camera, cropped etc to make a file less than 1mb (damn you photobucket)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0002.jpg

the cabling is a mess and the water is still out for now but its better. did a test fit with everything and its fine just need the plexi to mount things to.

comments welcome.

[craigr1982]

hello again, long time no speak. Work has been mad busy pulling 15hour shifts every night it seems. Finally got the time to order the plexi so it should be here sometime next week while i'm off.

Be nice to finally mount this damn watercooling, its been sitting on the floor in boxes since I got it!

I will keep you posted.

[craigr1982]

BL**DY HELL!!! This working nights is driving me up the wall!! No time for eating, let alone modding.

My plexi arrived and I sent it to a guy for the cutting, then i went off to work for 2 weeks. Came back expecting it done, went round to pick it up......he F**KING closed. Went out of business! B*STARD!!! I'm so angry. Rang him up and sent an email. today, well yesterday he finally brought my plexi back to me.....UNCUT!!!

TW*T!

Now i gotta find another guy to do the cutting and it has put me back cos this week I have 2 days off that i could have spent tweaking and finished my project.

SO ANGRY!!

Anyway thats me let off some steam now, sorry guys n gals.

[SharkMan]

that sucks dude, case looks incredible; just out of curiousity, would it be too hard to make that screen into a touchscreen? i could see that making use for ejecting cds out of a mod i'm planning.

[craigr1982]

i wouldnt have thought so, you can buy touch screen kits esp in the US. It was my first thought so I could use a slider bar or similar for fan speeds when gaming but now i realise that if i touched the screen mid game it would minimise my game to make the alterations. Like switching apps etc.

i will have a look at my emails and see who i contacted about my tft and send you a pm later on.

On another note i have had some time off work so been playing with my dremel and made some cd bay covers while i find someone else to cut my plexi for me.

images soon

[craigr1982]

this res mount is ****ing me off!

i want it so that only half the res is seen (as in my sketches. Unfortunatly this is a nightmare as I cant attach it to anything strong enough.

Went to B & Q and bought some drain pipe bits. thinking of putting the res on the side with some drainpipe hiding the barbs etc.

pictures tell a 1000 words so i will take a pic n then put it on here.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0009.jpg

Its just resting on some scrap plexi but you get the idea

[GT40_GearHead]

damn thats great idea

looks industrial :D

[The boy 4rm oz]

I think It looks good how it is mate, gives a kind of futuristic tank look lol.

[simon275]

Man thats a nice idea that would look sweet. I'm so gonna steal your idea witht the pipeing in a future mod.

The 12" screem is really nice I have never seen one that big on the front of a computer.

[craigr1982]

Well my panels are being cut today so I can pick them up tomorrow.

About time too I hear you cry.

Anyway, I have done the stealthing for the drives and got some more piccys for your delight.


EDIT HOLY COW THOSE PICS ARE BIG!! LINKY's instead.

Now You See Me (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0012.jpg)


Now you dont! (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0015.jpg) well as near as dammit anyway.

also spoke to my engineer mate and we have devised a way to mount my res internally as my previous design so when my panels come back I can get modding the res mounts.

[simon275]

Excellent drive steathing. The are in just a little bit to far but still good.

One qustion though. Dont the disks fall out when the drives open?

[craigr1982]

yeah they need a little tweaking.

both my drives have the little clips that hold cds in. not lost one yet

[craigr1982]

well i am posting this on my laptop cos my pc is in bits atm.

plexi is done. res is mounted. just routing the tubing and doing cable management. (Pics to follow later on)

My rig has been down since friday @ 2pm as i been working on the tubing. Had to put it on hold this weekend so far as the gf is complaining that i'm not giving her attention.

just did a test fit with all panels on and its going to look the biz when its done. Hopefully today but definatly by monday!

will post pics asap

[craigr1982]

well my rig is finally up and running although the temps are wrong somewhere along the line.
CPU 1 - 50C
CPU 2 - 54C
GPU - 48C

Anyway, got some pics but they excuse the quality as my digital camera has gone AWOL so had to use my phone cam.

More pics to come when i have done some tweaking.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0016.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0017.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0018.jpg

had an idea with these too.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0019.jpg

as i said the pics are poor quality but i will get some better ones soon.

[a.Bird]

Your case looks really sleek so far, great work. The last pic of the lights is a little to Las Vegas for me, but I say run with it if that's your bag.

[craigr1982]

i wont actually see the lights properly. they will be internal and will only give light to the res so I can see the coolant level. the pic was just to show them off.

found my camera now so better pics will be up soon.

[craigr1982]

TADA!!! :D

Found my camera and these shots of it do look a lot better. I have left some of the protective film on but only while I am still putting the finishing touches on. Anyway enough of my ramblings heres the pics.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0022.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0023.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks great man, sleek and perfect.

[craigr1982]

Just ordered 2 sharkoon fans 120mm 19Db and arctic cooler for my 6800gs from scan. didnt realise my gfx was THAT loud until now. should be here on thursday

And another note, bought some new TIM and reapplied. Now the temps are CPU1 44C and CPU2 46C. CPU2 is hotter cos its next to the gfx card.

Hopefully when they arrive I can take some internal shots too. Needs a bit of a tidy up first.

[xdxforever]

the AC might actually lower your CPU2 temp as well then as the card will run cooler along with putting less hot air into the case.

[craigr1982]

Ok, the final stages now.

Mounted my LED strips today.

Case
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0026.jpg

Res Up Close
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0028.jpg

Just waiting on a couple of things to arrive then it will be done!!

[craigr1982]

Here is a night shot

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0032.jpg

I dont think my camera likes night shots. If I use the flash it looks like its daylight. Suggestions?

[silverdemon]

looks really nice, one question though... could you make the pictures a bit smaller? I use a 1400x1050 screen, but your pictures are still bigger than my screen. if you'd make them about max 600 or so pixels wide it would not mess up the forum layout...

imagine the people who use 1024x768 res ...

nice job on the mod though;)

[craigr1982]

Pics for your delight.

Interior
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0003.jpg

Interior With Lights
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0004.jpg

Top Open
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0008.jpg

Top Closed
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0007.jpg

Res Side
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0011.jpg

3/4 Veiw
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0012-1.jpg

3/4 Veiw Other
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/IMAG0005.jpg

Specs

MSI K8N MASTER2 FAR
2x AMD Opteron 252’s @ 2757mhz
2Gb Corsair Registered DDR400
MSI 7900GTO 512Mb @ Stock (for now)
2x SATA2 Hard Drives
2x DVD Writers
DangerDen ½” Watercooling
Seasonic 600W PSU
1x 12” TFT @ 600x800
1x 19” TFT @ 1280x1024
Logitech MX700 Wireless Desktop
5.1 Surround Creative Speakers

[NocturnaL]

Nice, i like the case design you got going. The metal corners caught my eyes when i 1st looked at the case, i like them ;)

[craigr1982]

Holy Thread revival Batman!!

It's my thread, so I'm not fussed.

This PC is featured in Issue 43 of Custom PC as a Readers Drives Winner!!

WooHoo!!!!

Here is the magazine in all its glory for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. (Which will be anyone who isnt a subscriber I guess.)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/th_Monolith1.jpg (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/Monolith1.jpg)
Clicky ^

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/th_Monolith2.jpg (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/Monolith2.jpg)
Clicky ^

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/th_Monolith3.jpg (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/craigr1982/Monolith3.jpg)
Clicky ^

Thanks guys n gals!!

[slytherock]

Cool :up: Congrat craigr1982 +rep :)

[craigr1982]

Thanks,

Tell me how you change the title of the thread as it has a proper name now, and i thought I had changed it. Does it need a Mod to do it?

I would like it to read.

Project: Monolith (Completed Pics Page 6)

If anyone can tell me (or do it and move it completed Worklogs?)

Thanks

[armadilloben]

dude nice case!
why dont u spend another 20 min and do a lil cable management
gj man +rep



-ben

[craigr1982]

Thanks,

I'm having the water blocks lapped next week so I can do some cable management (as its a bit of a mess atm) :D

But otherwise its brilliant!!

[meticoeus]

Nice turnout, the case looks quite professional.

[Spyrious]

Very nice mod.I love the portrait lcd in front.Professional mod.It needs a little cable management though.

[pcclan]

love it i might do that to mine