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Thread: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

  1. #1

    Default Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit

    Excerpts from an Aperture Laboratories Employee, circa 2012:
    [BEGIN TRANSMISSION]

    9 March 2012:
    I've become a fan of older Aperture hardware it seems. Working on the latest Aperture Laboratories Portable Testing Unit, I discovered the following images in an old service manual:



    I've managed to dig out these parts, and intend on resurrecting this machine from Aperture's early days. With the ongoing lockdown in the labs, I have some free time to complete this project. I'm still trying to find any form of literature regarding the unit's external design, will log those images as soon as I discover them.

    This post brought to you by:


    Note: This worklog is in no way connected with vALVE or related companies. This is just a mod made by a fan of the Portal game/world.
    [END TRANSMISSION]


    [BEGIN TRANSMISSION]
    Sunday 22 April

    After a lot of planning (and interruptions, damn that Wheatley, useless pile of [REDACTED]) I have started to work on this project! First I have grabbed a power supply from the reverse engineering plant, seems they were looking at this Silverstone Essentials Series 500W unit in preparation for the reverse engineered Aperture Science unit to supply power for our next generation of Aperture Science Single-user System.

    Disappointingly, the pinout of the connectors is all wrong! How inefficient is a motherboard when it needs to be supplied all these different voltages?! Seems the ASPTU uses a more efficient combination of 12v and a standby 5v supply. Much nicer.

    So, I've had to remove all these unnecessary wires. See below:

    Seen above is a quick size comparison of the PSU and the ASPTU board.


    The unit in its correct location in the system


    The opened unit (OOC: Warranty? BAH!)


    Removing the unnecessary wires - the ones to the left are about to be removed


    That's more like it. 26 wires in total, rather than the 40+ that existed before. Don't worry, the wires will be sleeved for a more uniform look.


    The remaining ends - the plugs you see are for the Aperture Science Singular Board Unified Televisor Translator (seriously the marketing dept needs a shakeup!)
    The loose wires will be inserted into a 20 pin plug for the board.


    A selection of the removed wires. Some of this (approx 10-20cm) will be saved for powering disk devices and cooling apparatus.

    I hope to pass on more work on this project soon, barring any more interruptions.

    [END TRANSMISSION]

    OOC:
    A few more pics over on LOSIAS.net

    Specs so far
    2x Intel Xeon L5420 2.5GHz (according to Passmark, the pair have 90% of the performance of a stock clocked Core i7-2600k. I render a lot as well as game so need 'moar REAL cores'. I also have a trick or two up my sleeve. Passmark says 3GHz 5400 series Xeons have similar performance to the core i7-2700k or i7-3820.. considering what I paid for this hardware it's a steal)
    4x 1GB DDR2 FB-DIMMs (going to purchase another 4 soon enough, for real quad channel bandwidth)
    Supermicro X7DWT motherboard (I believe I'm the first modder to use the Half-SSI style form factor.. I could be wrong. The board is designed to be paired with a twin inside a single 1U server, hence the funky power input. Seriously, read the thread here: http://www.losias.net/showthread.php...o-X7DWT-thread! )
    XFX GTX285 1GB (I wanted something within budget that had decent performance and was long, to suit the motherboard)
    500GB WD Blue
    2x Deepcool Ice Edge Mini coolers (going to be custom mounted)

    Chassis will be made from 1mm alu sheet, with some steel reinforcing and whatnot.

  2. #2
    Moderator TLHarrell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    Welcome to the forums. Making a great start of a buildlog on your first post! Fantastic little back story you've got going. Subscribed and watching this one.
    I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! -Calvin

  3. #3
    Undead Pirate d_stilgar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    If it has to do with Portal, I'm interested. I'll be keeping my eye on this.

    Welcome to the forums!

  4. #4
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)



    and

    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

    Tri.fecta

  5. #5

    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    Thanks guys I've been lurking for a while, thought I'd share my worklog with you folks It is shared on LOSIAS and [H] as well.. Just sharing the modding love

  6. #6
    One Eye, Sixteen Cores. Kayin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    I just passed on my dual Xeon setup. I still remember working on them all the time when I worked.

    I should get me a board of that form factor for my dual hexacores here. May as well use them.
    Project:Mithril, sponsored by Petra's Tech Shop and Sidewinder Computers-MOTM Nominee October '08




  7. #7

    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    Wednesday 25 April

    Some work on the back panel. Needs a few more rivets. I will be painting the whole chassis, so don't mind the scratches! The IO area will have some moulding inserted, the bent back alu is for structure!





    As always, more pics on LOSIAS.net

    Next stage is finishing the rear panel including the chassis braces, and then it's time to move to the front!

    The board is running fine, with the GTX285 GPU and the massively modified 500w Silverstone PSU. Windows doesn't appear to like mixed steppings, so I have to stump up for another Xeon

  8. #8
    iShot the Sheriff jdbnsn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    Ohhhhh, this does look cool! Don't hold out on the pics bro, welcome to TBCS!!!
    "At the midpoint on the journey of life, I found myself in a dark forest, for the clear path was lost..." -Dante Alighieri

  9. #9

    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    Thanks dude. LOSIAS hosts my images so its sort of a kickback for them (us..I'm head Editor lol)

    Trying to decide whether to buy or make the fan controller..hmm

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Aperture Science Portable Testing Unit (scratchbuild)

    stupid work firewall blocks your site.

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