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I just finished stealthing the front of an SN45G and thought I'd share an image. The Kandinsky matches a framed print I have hanging on my office wall......This is my new HTPC.

Edit: I took out the image and switched it for an HTML. The image was comming through at 1200x1600......

http://hometown.aol.com/teleportgrend/index.html

Pretty pimp... I likey

Thanks firerules. I changed the link, again, to make it smaller, again....::Sigh::.....and added an image of the drive open.

Very nicely done.

eckslax wrote:

Very nicely done.

Thanks ecks!

I'm getting tired of sizing these things down. I'm not used to doing this through AOL's upload system.

Nice job. If you need hosting email me the pics whatever size.

the_silver_bullet24 wrote:

Nice job. If you need hosting email me the pics whatever size.

Thank you. That's nice of you to offer. I know I could always go back to Tripod, etc..... I just threw this page together to get these uploaded and didn't relize what a hasstle it was going to be using AOL. Next time I'll do it differently.

Looking for Knowledge wrote:

the_silver_bullet24 wrote:

Nice job. If you need hosting email me the pics whatever size.

Thank you. That's nice of you to offer. I know I could always go back to Tripod, etc..... I just threw this page together to get these uploaded and didn't relize what a hasstle it was going to be using AOL. Next time I'll do it differently.

LFK...I just recently bought a refurbed SN45G from newegg. Great price. You might have read my post about how I was worrying what would and wouldn't be in the box when I got it. Turns out everything but the driver disks was included.

Anyway. I did not know that the drives would be visible when I put it together but it appears they will be. Looking at your photos it appears that you put the optical drive in and then also attached the clear front cover as well.

How did you do this? Tape. Glue. Magic?

It also looks like you added a blowhole to the top? And a side panel. What are all the mods you did? Do you have links to the products you used or no? I have a dremel and have used it to mod a full size case before but I had a window kit for that. I imagine the blowhole is pretty easy but that side panel looks HOT!

I'm really not trying to copy your design, I just want some ideas and tips from someone who has obviously already been where I want to be.

Also, while I am asking 300 questions. What are you running as a proc? As a matter of fact what are your system specs all told? I am very inquisitive today.

I got a Mobile XP2500+ on order. Hoping to get at least 2.2GHz inside that little box. I will be putting a gig of Geil pc3200, an 80Gig WD 8MB HD, an ATI 9800pro, and a Lite-on CDRW/DVD combo drive in my toaster as well.

I took pics of the assembly so far (first time ever doing that, I felt kinda dorky about it). The rest of my parts will be coming from newegg on Monday. I will hopefully finish up the project that night and have rave reviews for everyone on Tuesday morning.

Player Hater wrote:

How did you do this? Tape. Glue. Magic?

Yes, it was magic. No, I just grabbed a shortest CDRW/DVD drive I had sitting around, I think it's a Lite-on, and used carpet tape to attach the front plate to it. I trimmed off the metal flang that runs around the outside of the plate and hack sawed the screws that hold it together. After that it fit like a glove.

If you want to go with an image behind the clear front do it before you hack those screws down. That's my advice. Also.....some rubbing alcohol will remove that grey strip that runs across the lower middle of the main front plate.

It also looks like you added a blowhole to the top? And a side panel. What are all the mods you did?

Yes, I added a blow hole tot he top. It didn't really help with temps though....a bit of a disapointment. I installed a Zalman slim 80x15mm fan in the hole and ran the plug to one of the mobo headers. I use speed fan to run it @ 7v so I can't hear it.

The other mods I did consist of replacing the ICE fan with a SilenX (14db) and then attaching the same exact fan in the back in a push-pull configuration.
The case is the black mesh case, I bought it from Shuttle and painted it metalic silver. Other than that......I haven't really done any other mods. Sure, there are some heatsinks on my ram, video card, etc.....but that's not really a mod as far as I'm concerned.

I just want some ideas and tips from someone who has obviously already been where I want to be.

I know it's another site.....but there are some great ideas here:
http://forums.sudhian.com/categories.cfm?catid=46

What are you running as a proc? As a matter of fact what are your system specs all told?.......I got a Mobile XP2500+ on order. Hoping to get at least 2.2GHz inside that little box. I will be putting a gig of Geil pc3200, an 80Gig WD 8MB HD, an ATI 9800pro, and a Lite-on CDRW/DVD combo drive in my toaster as well.

That's pretty much what I have. Barton 2500+ @ 2.2ghz, ATI 9800 AIW Pro, Lite-on combo drive........ Only differences are that I went with a gig of Kingston pc3200 ram , and only a 40gb WD HDD.

I took pics of the assembly so far (first time ever doing that, I felt kinda dorky about it). The rest of my parts will be coming from newegg on Monday. I will hopefully finish up the project that night and have rave reviews for everyone on Tuesday morning.

Cool. Post your pics! Let's get the SFF forum area @ The TR more active! I'd much rather come here for SFF stuff than go to another site.....::Cough, cough::

First off LFK...

Thanks for all the replys to my questions, mighty kind of ya.

The blowhole didn't help huh? Thats too bad. Seems like it would.

The mesh on the side was already part of the case and you just painted it silver? That is also too bad. I am not much on painting, but I really like that mesh side. Might have to look into getting a can of paint.

Does that fan setup in the back do a lot for temps? Looks kinda badass, thats for sure.

One question I had that I forgot to ask earlier. I know that it has a 6 channel audio setup, but is it a Soundstorm? I am not too much of a sound snob, SBLIVE right now. I have just heard so much about SoundStorm and how good it is. Hoping I have it.

Since you have an AIW 9800pro I assume you are using this as a TIVO/PVR box? I am thinking about doing something like that but I heard that no matter what software you get, there is always something missing. Are you happy with everything? Any advice, for software or things like that? Since I already have a 9800pro, I would probably go with a PCI based TV tuner. I never thought I would make a HTPC or I might have considered an AIW a little more carefully.

As far as posting pics goes. I wouldn't know how. But if you have any tips on that I could figure it out as well.

Once again. Thanks for the links and all the answers and advice.

Player Hater wrote:

The blowhole didn't help huh? Thats too bad. Seems like it would.

Yea, I've had blow holes drop my case and CPU temps a few C's in the past. So I gave it a try. Part of the problem, as I see it, is that the way the ICE fan is exhausting the air in that area of the case (upper-rear) out already, so it's not adding to the overall effect.

The mesh on the side was already part of the case and you just painted it silver?

The mesh cover isn't a stock feature. I bought it from Shuttle.
http://us.shuttle.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=403
My thinking was that it would add some ventilation to the GPU on my ATI card. The stock case has a low area of breather holes along the bottom, and I just wanted to increase the area on that side of the case. I actually put some alum tape on the inside of the opposite side of the cover, where the PSU is, to make it more like the stock cover. This was because there are temp sensors over there and the increased opening decreased the air preasure passing over those sensors. It works like a charm.

Does that fan setup in the back do a lot for temps?

It helps. Because I'm running low db (14db) SilenX fans, their CFM is lower as well. The fan inside, using the ICE fan holder, was working.....but my temps were a little higher than I wanted. (54c under full load) By adding one on the back, running at the same RPM via speedfan, it's dropped to 49c under full load, and that's what I was looking for, without adding any noise.

One question I had that I forgot to ask earlier. I know that it has a 6 channel audio setup, but is it a Soundstorm?

Someone else will have to answer that question for you. I'm not sure....I just have it hooked up to my TV in my bedroom (A big 42" LCD HDTV ) and it works fine.

Since you have an AIW 9800pro I assume you are using this as a TIVO/PVR box? I am thinking about doing something like that but I heard that no matter what software you get, there is always something missing. Are you happy with everything? Any advice, for software or things like that? Since I already have a 9800pro, I would probably go with a PCI based TV tuner. I never thought I would make a HTPC or I might have considered an AIW a little more carefully.

Mine's not so much an HTPC as it is a way for me to watch TV and browse the net while sitting in bed. Or to rephrase that.....If I only want to watch TV the shuttle isn't even turned on....I just use my cable box. But, in your case, if you wanted to use it as a TIVO PVR box, I would recomend adding a Hauppauge PVR TV PCI Tuner card. They're getting great reviews.....I think some folks here use them. But persoanlly.....I tend to stick with the AIWs. I like that PCI slot too much to use it for a tuner I can have on my AGP card.

As far as posting pics goes. I wouldn't know how. But if you have any tips on that I could figure it out as well.

Start a free homepage at someplace like Tripod, Geocities, etc..... They're easy to do, and then you can host all the images you want, within reason.

Thanks for the links and all the answers and advice.

Da nada. Most of the time I feel like my posts are completely ignored.....so at least this makes me feel helpful.

looks good m8

Looks nice. I would really like to get a SN45G for a HTPC, just dont have the cash

MorgZ wrote:

looks good m8

Hey MorgZ. I work with about 10 people who used to live in Cardiff. Small world huh?

heh yer it is pal

Great looking, original work with the picture behind the bezel like that.

Got a pic of the full picture? Just curious - neat picture.

I need to make a HTPC outta one of those someday...