Computer/ Art.

[GSTMAN]

I am currently working on building a computer that is inside of, what is basically, a custom made shadow box/ picture frame. I like the idea of letting the computer components speak for themselves. From the motherboard's complex circuits, to the simple exterior of a HDD, I have always felt it is such a shame to tuck these beautiful parts away into a computer case or worse, ruin them in a gaudy case that still just ends up under a desk. Art, is meant to be hung on a wall for display. And that is exactly the idea that I'm trying to bring to life. The idea seems simple enough but in practice it is taking a lot longer than I had originally intended. I told myself it should take around a week or so, once I had all my parts in the same place. Here it is, about 3 months later, and I'm still working away at it. Don't get me wrong I've been having a blast working on it, it's just been a little more involved than I had imagined.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1893_zps76913fd9.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1905_zps836fe5b3.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1922_zps1808fd98.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1955_zpsf3d93580.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1929_zps712176fc.jpg
Troth for the lights routed out, holes cut for fans. Ended up going with a different fan set up for better cooling.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/1992_zpsfec3757b.jpg
Lights set in place to get a taste of what it is going to look when it's done.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/2053_zpsf44ad072.jpg

I have more pictures of further progress, but haven't uploaded them yet. I should be able to load those up pretty soon. I took a look around this website and saw what kind of insane talent that some of these guys and realize that I'm not even close to that level, but I thought it was a pretty fresh idea. This is my first build and just wanted to post it around and see what you guys thought about it. Just let me know what you think.

Thank you,
Scott Y.

[blueonblack]

It is an interesting idea, and I know what you mean on the shame of hiding away some of today's awesome-looking hardware.

Carry on and show us more please.

[TLHarrell]

Nice idea, but you're going to need a lot more ventilation in that case. Recommend opening up the top and bottom more and installing some mesh, and maybe some fans. That thing is going to absolutely cook otherwise.

[TheMainMan]

It's a really cool idea though I'm with TLHarrell on the cooling, assuming that you're putting a piece of glass in the frame itself. Are you going to mount it in portrait or landscape? If you have the ability to choose I would recommend landscape with the video card outputs at the top edge since the fan will exhaust out the back. For the other components the airflow direction likely won't matter as much as actually having airflow through the box. Are you planning on staining the wood?

[GSTMAN]

Yeah, as of now I have 4 fans mounted along the bottom of the case, 2 fans along the top, and a liquid cooling CPU set up with the radiator mounted at the top of the case. Also I have the holes cut to the full size of the fans instead of the small holes I had drilled out in the pictures I have posted now. I'll post more pictures in a few, I'm waiting for my phone to power back up so I can upload the rest of what I have done. It's set up to mount landscape, and I installed plexiglass into the frame. Oh and I'm applying a polyurethane finish, but I'm not staining it. Thanks for all the feedback.

Thank you,
Scott Y.

[msmrx57]

It's is definitely a fresh idea, and looking very nice indeed from what you've posted so far. Looking forward to seeing more of this build.

[GSTMAN]

Covering the inside with fabric for a cleaner, more finished look.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/005_zpsd5534da0.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/012_zpscb8cb254.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/013_zps42d215bf.jpg
Cut a line in the fabric and glued it back to make room for the LED strip.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/029_zps57861a18.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/047_zps42a6f0b3.jpg
Frame finished, rounded off the edges with a router, and routed a track for the plexiglass, and applied polyurethane finish (not in that order).
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/048_zps7f54a2c4.jpg
Frame and box finished (pretty much)
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/050_zps0170fd80.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/051_zps6eaad692.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/053_zps0b17945a.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/058_zpsd9923ac4.jpg
Started installing "weather stripping" basically something to cushion the frame against the box to keep from vibrating, and something to keep the fabric from fraying at the edges there.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/073_zpsd2f957b3.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/075_zpsea961878.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/081_zps24b98f70.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/082_zpsf3c880b4.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/083_zps5301ce16.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/086_zpsf32c0fba.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/Computer%20Frame/090_zps58ff46ba.jpg

The LED light strip that I have installed is an RGB strip that comes with a remote and can change between a bunch of colors and can even be set up to strobe, or slowly fade between different colors.

As of right now, the frame attaches using 4 clips, but when I installed those clips I assumed that the weather stripping would have more give than it does. So the clips don't completely snap together. After I fix that I need to figure out how to hang this bad boy on a wall, I was thinking about buying a simple TV wall mount. Let me know what you think.

Thank you,
Scott Y.

[TheMainMan]

The green light with the red of the RAM and GPU trim looks very festive! The black fabric was a great idea as it makes the computer parts the focus. The best way to mount it in my opinion would be a french cleat. It would allow you to move it later as well as easily take it down in case you needed to swap anything out.

[GSTMAN]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Just finished it up let me know what you think. I ended up going with an inexpensive but effective TV mount. Also, I ended up re-mounting the frame mounting set up that I had before so that it worked as I had originally intended. I installed Battlefield 4 to check out how well it could handle it and to keep an eye on temps. After playing with all but a couple of settings all the way up for about an hour or so the CPU's highest recorded temp was 39.5C, GPU max was 53C. The motherboard has 3 sensors, highest was was 47C.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww93/gst_man/064_zps8e3ff52c.jpg

Thank you,
Scott Y.

[TheMainMan]

End result is pretty cool! Nice work!

[thorkon]

Pretty sweet, that's a nice setup!

[Stonerboy779]

Temp worked out pretty well in the end and the TV mount appears to be doing its job well

[xr4man]

Well despite what you think about being on the same level as some of the bills on this site, I think you came on with some serious force. This is a nice fresh idea and You executed it fabulously! Great job. I love it and it had given me new inspiration.

[GSTMAN]

Well thanks for all the feedback and confident boosts, makes me feel better about my work and more interested in picking up an old project I started about a year ago. I have an old radio cabinet that I am trying to modernize. I'm building a media computer behind the radio portion and I'm trying to set the rest of it up to hold my gaming consoles and receiver so I can use this as my entertainment center. What software would you guys suggest for 3D modeling, so I can kind of play around with different designs?

[TheMainMan]

Sketchup (formerly by Google, now by Trimble) is a popular choice for 3D modelling as it's free and fairly straight forward to learn. It's not the greatest for output to 3D printers or CNC machines (needs plugins or file converters typically) but for mocking up stuff quickly and precisely it's great. Good luck!