Nate Fox
noted that there was a Cool Case contest over at QuakeCon. The
winners included a machine built entirely in a suitcase, one with a glowing skull inside, and of course, one built from PVC pipes. Imitate at your own risk ;) I get nervous putting a Powerpuff Girls sticker on my case. *grin*
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In my neighborhood, you'd get your ass kicked for dissin' the PowerPuff Girls like that. Never underestimate the wrath of 10 year-old girls. ;-)
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The logical extension would be a water cooled system that doubled as a water pipe, no?
:wq
This is illegal dissemination of Apple's trade secrets! You are not allowed to post this. By saying that the "iMac inspired cases are cool" you are divulging proprietary insider information. Apple has trademarked the iMac's appearance, please do not talk about it, or they might have to sue you.
| Ceci n'est pas une pipe.
I find my CPU fan a little loud. I can't imagine how the guy who has the house fan put in the PVC tubing case can do anything. I like the case, but the fan would be annoying. Great for coolness points, however...
Funny, I was just building my own case this weekend... I read this book by william gibson called Idoru, in which the lead character has a computer called a sandbenders which is made out of stones, etc in an indian style... It inspired me to work on a case for a portable desktop... I have an old 233 board with builtin vid/sound, so I chucked it into a plastic box about the size of a mainboard (maybe 1.5 inches high) It looks good, except for the large metal power supply box sitting on top... And the hole for the processor fan... Anyone got solutions to the power supply problem? Maybe one of those cute 120 watt E-machine power supplies--but I don't trust anything that comes from E-machines...
mov ax, 13h
int 10h
Most new CD-ROM drives have tabs at the edges of the disc tray to support the CD if the drive is sideways. I have my definitely-not-intended-for-it IBM workstation at work on its side under my desk, and the drive works fine. Just look for little tabs.
Be careful though-- if they aren't there and the disc slides off the tray, it can jam the mechanism closed. I did this once to an old 486!
(If you use one of these to cool your computer, please use it in a well-ventilated area.)
If that's not enough for you, Moffett Field has the world's largest wind tunnel right in Silicon Valley. Somebody with NASA connections ought to put an open PC in there just to take a few pictures.
Have a look at http://www.applefritter.com for some interesting case hacks...
Why are so many people seemingly obsessed with having the biggest/most fans in their boxen?
I've noticed this mentality before on
I know Intel's processors, for example, run a little on the hot side - but surely you'll get to a point when adding another fan is a complete waste of money/space/energy.
For me, boxes that are more efficient, that need less fans, use less power, make less noise, are far more appealing.
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%46%55%43%4B !
The Power Puff Girls is an ironic work of post modern genius. If you think its juts for kids, then you've missed the point.
Thad
Thad
How do you avoid the drastically increased magnetic noise that a fan like the one in the PVC case must generate? I would expect that a motor like the one in most of our window fans (about the size of a large sandwich) could probably throw off enough interference to erase your hard drive! Is the fan shielded, or is it a low-noise motor, or what? This would be truly awesome, but I'm hesitant to try it because of the noise issue.
OK, from what I hear from those who've researched it, PCB can take an extreme thermal change about once fairly reliably. Also, CMOS can go twice as fast (ALL of it) if you chill it to liquid nitrogen temperatures (I think that's 70K, anyone know for sure?). SO, if I want to win this next year, can I just bring in my liquid nitro vat with computer in it? Is there any survivability requirement? I mean, I put it together, double the clock speed (need to think about this here... what can I OC? CPU, yes. graphics, yes. memory, yes. FSB, maybe. HDD, probly not... seems tough.) and produce out-of-this world frame rates. Of course, it costs $2000 for the computer, which dies as soon as I decide I can't afford the liquid nitro it needs. Also, liquid nitro is great because it doesn't conduct electricity but conducts heat quite well. Also, if we are just doing it for the contest, we can let it boil off, which provides VERY efficient heat dissipation...
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Sounds like it should be Microsoft's slogan...
I wouldn't sweat it - the radiation is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. So while the cell phone pressed against your head - about an inch from your brain - might be a worry, an unshielded PC is dozens of inches away from your 'nads.
For equal signal strengths at the source, twenty-four inches away is 1/576th the strength of one inch away.
If you're still worried, get some tin-foil underpants...
I dunno, there was a big fan on that case... Cute idea, but does it run? If it does.
MAGNETIC OUTPUT!
and HEAT FROM IT'S MOTOR!
Eh...
Oh heck, I wish I hadn't.
:-)
I'm feeling very, very afraid.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Is it really anything more than a really inconvenient laptop made out of non-miniaturized parts?
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Granite is a terrible heat sink. Heat sinks are designed to conduct heat and take it away from the critical component. Granite make a nice insulator which would hold the heat to the critical component.
Now that's a proper pissing contest. Forget about over-clocking, how hot can you get your box?
"Well Bruce, I've recently added a three bar electric fire to mine, it now runs at a toasty 90 degrees C. Oh and I've had to underclock the processor by 90%."
Or maybe I've been given some moderators crack by mistake...
wrighty.
1) Your 900MHz phone would sound funny if you got a nice 900MHz Athlon/P3 due to all the radiated crap.
2) Without the conductive metal case, the static charge built up on the plastic while moving your case could easily remove the "magic smoke" from ICs on the motherboard, etc if you were to grab one, then touch the other... Bzzzt!
A computer produces an huge amount of electromagnetical radiation and an open unshielded case can't stop it. You can have quite a lot of fun watching TV close to such a computer.
But also any other device that produces electromagnectic ration (e.g. a cell phone) may cause trouble.
I've even heared reports that HDDs were making funny noises when a mobile phone was lying on the top of the case (a proper one)...
CU,
Maori
Sure, but the box is massive and has a high specific heat. As long as it isn't up 24/7, the heat from a PC will never appreciably heat the granite..
.sig: Now legally binding!
Wood veneer is easy to apply, and can usually be accomplished with a hair dryer.. (Real wood veneer, that is.. The fake stuff suxors)
Problem is, it tends to be rather pricey..
.sig: Now legally binding!
Of course when you mention it on slashdot, you know someone's going to come forward and say that they did it already.
I did this a couple of years ago. Unfortunately I didn't have enough lego to make the case solid (some gaps) or all one colour. When I left to go to university my parents took it apart. Oh well. I'll finish it someday.
Other ideas I had were sheet metal, hardwood (wouldn't an oak cdrom drive just look cool?), nerf...
But lego would definately be the best option. How can you beat ultimate expandibility?
I think this is a finger in the eye of all those who claim that geeks are overly left-brained linear thinkers who lack creativity. Wasn't it Voltaire who said that art is not confined to its medium?
For geeks, the computer case is a ubiquitous unnoticed presence. Turning the everyday mundane into the dramatic was a technique popularized by Warhol (remember the Campbell's Soup Can?). It indicates an artistic maturity unrealized by many who claim to be serious artists. Of course, these so-called serious artists continue to toil with the limited tools of paint and brush. The paint and brush is what makes them feel serious.
Here we have artistic expression coming from an unexpected outlet. That makes it all the more exciting and effective.
I think this is proof that geeks are far more artistic and dynamic than most people believe. It's unfortunate that mediums such as source code don't get displayed in public museums. Perhaps they should. Maybe these cases are a step closer to the day when the Linux kernal source is framed and on display in the Louvre.
If the lameness filter actually worked, would you even be reading this?
My friend up at school and I were going to paint our cases. If this website I am working on takes off, maybe I'll come up with a really cool case design. A lot of the iMac inspired cases are cool... The G3&4 cases are cool, but not the iMac ones (ICK!). I dislike that one penguin case, looks like a kids toy. Gotta love the iMac fishbowl though.
Eh...
http://www.virtualhideout.net/ is a good starting point for Case Mod ideas.
The Cool Case Gallery has pictures of 161 mods (to date).
I think we have to give credit to gamers for driving the cool case idea a while ago (like the unreal case) but they've been left behind now by hardware nuts who don't care what runs on the computer, just how fast, how cool and how it looks.
0daymeme.com: Great stuff.
i don't think i've had the case on my computer since the day i built it.
Erian
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This Post has been brought to you by the letter "E".
I don't think this realm of activity is extraneous at all. Having a... um... a non-orthodox case can be pretty useful (and a liability/hassle, also). For a couple of years I have had a mb mounted on a pine board. There is a small amount of metal (from old curtain rods) fashioned into a card cage; everything else is screwed or stapled in, including the power supply, drives, speakers, and even a power strip. While aesthetically laughable, it is pretty convenient for adding/removing core components because everything is so accessible. You can also integrate oddball items (e.g. external devices you don't feel like tearing apart and finding the right cables for) without a lot of fuss and clutter. It works fine... if you don't mind dusting every so often. One of the downsides is that it has to be placed somewhere out of the way.
Sure these look neat, but most of them will have serious problems complying with FCC regs on electromagnetic interference. Moreover, the EM generated by these things has got to be scary and generally not a Good Thing for one's person. Let's see--cell phones might cause brain cancer. Unshielded cases are generally located under the desk, so that means... I don't think I want to risk getting cancer THERE. :-O
Hell, I get nervous hanging around in the server room too long, and that stuff is all properly shielded... I hate to be a stick-in-the-mud, but has anyone thought of this?
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." --Groucho Marx
I was disappointed when i saw the "Entirely PVC" box. I thought it would be some cool Fank Lloyd Wright-looking computer contained in a bunch of PVC pipes of various widths. Keeping this sort of thing cool would be a breeze with a couple of fans. Too bad I'd need a ten-inch pipe to hold my MoBo.
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
Looking at google, I did a quick search and came up with this press release. The real site is here, actually, that's not true, because the "real" site is in Japanese. That is the English version.
They have notebooks, desktops, etc. in your choice of dead tree flavors.
As for Legos, I did that, with a 486-66, but I figured, why bother with a standard case design when you have legos? Mine looked vaguely like a mushroom (power supply on bottom, moboard on top).
Of course, people looked at me funny when I went up to the check-out of Wal-Mart with 2 boxes of 1000 peice sets of lego.
Dan
http://www.envador.com/Photos/PVCII
Some Q&A is also at the bottom of that page. Thanks for your comments :)
I'm looking for a tiny tiny motherboard (preferably by abit or asus) - maybe MicroATX, Flex ATX or NLX but must also have an AGP slot. Any suggestions? I'm designing PVC Jr. and it's going to focus on size this time.
They have this stuff the you can paint anything with to make it look like granite. They also have a spray on stone-like finish. I just wish I could remember brand names.
So, you could build a cool case from scratch, or you could modify an existing one. Personally, I kind of have this idea to make a computer case out of flat stones and PVC that would also be an indoor fountain...
Well, okay, maybe that's pushing it a little.
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"You spilled my egg... I needed that egg."
if you're talking about a regular putty-colored PC case, let me give you some tips. (I painted one for my then sys-admin a couple years ago.)
;-)
1) Rough up the finish first. Sandpaper, rock tumbler grit, etc.
2) Wash it off with water and dry it thoroughly.
3) Spray paint, fabric paint, whatever you use, it needs to dry completely between coats, especially if you're going to be painting over the same area 2 or 3 times.
4) When you're done give it a coat of spray sealant.
5) And for crying out loud, if you paint the front, detatch ALL the buttons and lights first. (Boy what a mess I made...)
Have fun!
The Divine Creatrix in a Mortal Shell that stays Crunchy in Milk
The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
So what would be the ultimate cool cases , 'coz lets face it, grey or beige boxes are just _so_ dull
- Wooden box, or hollowed out tree stump
- Old black and white TV with the innards removed, and monitor substituted. Finished? just close the doors.
- Hand carved granite case (good heat sink as well)
- Or just cover your existing case in fur, or feathers, or bamboo, carpet or other ludicrous covering
Great fun. Anyone wants to start carving I'll have one in pink and black Shap granite please, imagine, a machine made from thisI want an old TI-994/A PEB box. It already has the slots, 2 5 1/4 drive bays (can you use a CD-ROM drive sidewys?) and a cooling fan. ONly downside is that it just weighs a TON, but it would be SOO retro.
A friend of mine made a case from scratch with transparent plastic. Works nicely, but he's going to paint it a rust color.
Though I enjoyed seeing what others did to their computers, I am rather annoyed by the models uniformity.
I don't mean the look itself but rather the fact that they all seemed to share the same dimensions.
This would have been cool to see an exagerously flat (carputer = carpet + computer) or small (Liliputter = Liliputt + computer) or huge (roomputter because biuggest than a room, I wouldn't dare) computer box, no ?
Hope this will give ideas to someone...
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Trolling using another account since 2005.
you knew someone was gonna say it
it's a computer...
AND a 6 foot electric bong.
FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
Something similar has already been done here, albeit with a rather expensive non-conducting liquid and liquid nitrogen for a heat pump :)
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* Q
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