Project Overdrive

[DMB2000uk]

Hi Guys, long time no see! Thought you might like to see the latest case mod I'm underway with, it's pretty reserved in terms of specs, but I'm really pleased with how it's coming together.

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As an effort to move my friends from console gaming to PC gaming, I've offered to build a PC for one of them based on my 'spare parts' and a few purchases to get the most from the system.

It's going to be as much hardware as I can fit in the very modest budget, which translates to building it around an LGA775 platform (mostly because I already had the motherboard and RAM available).

So I present to you.... Project Overdrive

The case I'll be using for this build is a Silverstone SG01. It originally had a Pentium D system in it, so has been around just a little bit longer than the hardware I'm about to put in it.



Stripping it down brings us to the inside. There was a HDD rack at the front I forgot to photograph that had an intake fan on the side too. The case fits a mATX board and full sized PSU, so there are plenty of options for expandability.



However, I'm not happy with the CPU clearance the PSU location provides (above the motherboard/CPU). You're pretty much limited to having the stock CPU cooler, so something will have to be done about that...

A few rivets later and were down to the bare chassis.



I figure there's enough room at the front of the case to mount the PSU, and I can work out where to put the displaced hardware as I go. >_<

First up is to trim the dual bay ODD cage to fit above where the PSU will be mounted:



Then I need a way to secure the PSU in place in its new home. Using some offcuts from before, I can make a bracket that the PSU can screw into.



By chance, I found that I could fit the HDD sideways in the ODD cage. It's a perfect fit, so I cut out a bracket from the original HDD cage to hold it in place there:





And then all that riveted back into the case:



Made a slight mis-calculation with not leaving a gap to plug the HDD SATA cables in, but back to the dremel and a couple of quick cuts later:



I'm ready to start putting hardware in this now, but I've still got a few things I want to finish up first, so I'm going to have to leave you hanging a bit before I do the big reveal. So stay tuned!

[skier]

always nice to see some modding, the extent of modding on my own PC is just cut out fan grills and holes drilled through the motherboard tray

Can't wait to see it with some hardware inside

[DMB2000uk]

always nice to see some modding, the extent of modding on my own PC is just cut out fan grills and holes drilled through the motherboard tray

Can't wait to see it with some hardware inside

Thought the forum could do with a new mod post so decided to share. ;-)

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Ok, now I've started putting some hardware in the case. :D



The HDD sits on top of...



..the slimline ODD drive, which then sits on top of...



..the PSU (which sits on the case... etc. ).

It really is a perfect fit. There's literally a couple of mm above the HDD to the case exterior.



The cutout lip on the bottom of the case already existed from the original HDD cage, but it conveniently means I can now slide the PSU out of the case without having to de-rivet anything. Win-win.



Now that I've moved the PSU, I kind of have a big hole on the back of the case. I had another idea spark to fill up that hole perfectly...



With another PSU!

Wait, no, that won't fit.



Getting closer!



Boom. One mesh drill with pre-tapped screw holes and mains bulkhead fitting already installed!



That's the ticket. ;)

And to connect that up to the PSU's new location, I cut and soldered a 90 degree kettle lead to the bulkhead fitting...



Then stealthed the cable along the middle case support beam



I'm loving that bar for cable management purposes.

And don't worry, I'm planning on insulating the exposed mains contacts with a liberal application from a glue gun soon enough.


Coming up next time... A surprise wireless adaptor!

[skier]

LOVE the re-wired power switch and connector

Moving the PSU just allowed you to have any style CPU heatsink right?

[DMB2000uk]

LOVE the re-wired power switch and connector

Moving the PSU just allowed you to have any style CPU heatsink right?

I was actually going to try and make my own bulkhead fitting before I realised I could kill two birds with one stone and just hack apart an old PSU. Definitely proud of that one!

Yeah, this whole mod has pretty much stemmed from wanting to use a decent cooler on the processor!

With the stock PSU location there was only room for super low profile coolers which would have limited me to just using the oem intel one (which I didn't want). Even with all this modding the cooler barely fits the case, as it's actually touching the sidepanel when it's all assembled.

[DMB2000uk]

I needed to sort out the big gap at the front of the ODD bays, and I just happened to have some spare acrylic on hand...



And with a small cutout to put the drive through, the hole will be nice and covered.



I secured the xbox RF board behind this acrylic bit *cough* with some gaffer tape *cough* (Yes, I was being lazy, but I didn't want it glued in place, and I didn't want to have to take all the components back out of the case to drill/make a mounting bracket).

Having it behind acrylic incidentally also means that that the case won't shield the RF signals from actually working, so this 'unused' bit of space ended up working out in my favour.

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Depending on if the guy I'm selling this to wants case handles, this could be my last update before final pictures.



The handles would look like above, and while they'll make the case a lot more practical for carrying to LAN'ing (which we intend to do most weeks) I think I do like the case better without them. So we'll see what he decides. ;)

[DJ Tucker]

that is turning out to be a great lan mod build. I like the kettle plug mod. surprised you can fit such a system in that tiny thing

[DMB2000uk]

Final Pictures! :D















Cable management like a boss.



So what do you think?

[skier]

Nice finished product

[DJ Tucker]

beautifully done. this is what I want to do with my old e8500 system but would have to spend on a new mobo and micro atx psu and hdd. so it will have to wait