Nice. I always love to see components integrated into the case.
Printable View
Nice. I always love to see components integrated into the case.
It's done!
Here are the final steps towards completion:
If you have paid close attention to the internal layout of the hardware, you might have noticed that the intake fan on the PSU is facing directly into a solid piece of plywood. To fix that problem, I cut slots in the wood using a jigsaw to do the first cut, and then widening each slot with the router bit on my dremel. Here are the results:
The next step is to cut wholes for the switches:
...and then mounted:
To attach the switches to the components, I devised this very simple solution:
Next to do the finishing work.
I put a clear acrylic coat over the aluminum to protect it from oxidation, and even out the color:
Then the wood was varnished:
To absorb vibrations and protect the bottom, I added rubber feet:
Now for the assembly:
It's all working!
Final pictures:
The DVD drive does not read DVD-R discs, so I installed windows sever 2008 (which is basically vista, and I used it because I got it for free) from a flash drive. I am only having one problem now, and that is getting the internet working. The wireless card is detected, and the drivers are installed, but it does not find wireless networks. Also, I was worried about temps, so I did a few stress tests on it. The video card, which is passively cooled idles at 50 C, and on load reaches about 60 C, which is perfectly okay. The CPU is a little toastier, idling at 55 C, and increasing to 73 under Prime95. This is quite hot for my comfort, but realistically it is perfectly fine, as the CPU will never become that hot during normal use.
So that's all for now. I'll post a few more pictures once I get it hooked up to our TV.
Thanks again everyone!
Very nice. Clean and simple look. :up:
Looks nice; I like the finish on the wooden faceplate, it is set off well by the pale aluminum. For the wireless card, check the antenna connection; if the antenna isn't solidly connected, that could explain it not picking up any networks.
Thanks guys. I got the wireless working- apparently in server 2008 you have to install this windows feature in order to be able to use Wireless LAN, but now it is working.
Ah, that makes sense....what with servers generally not having wireless cards. ;p
looks niice, what will you be using to control the htpc?
the wood work looks awesome! im jealous
Looks almost like an old radio or something, I love it! Good job man :up:
Very nice build. Looks great! Not sure how well 2008 will do for your media playback, so let us know how it does.
I mostly don't like wooden cases, but you pulled this one off nicely! I think it looks nice and tidy, maybe a bit retro. The alu-mesh really compliments it. Great job!