TR Forums

whm1974 wrote:

This is so neat. How much work has this been for you, and how much more will you need?

It's been a fair amount of work and with my busy schedule, often tough to fit in the time to work on it. I'm about to make an update of the progress, in the next hour or so.

i think you forgot the mini fridge.

So, here is a long awaited, information update, as of 2-18-2017!

I now:
Have a working computer within the frame.
Have the majority of cabling in place and routed (sans bad HDMI cable, which is now on order).
Have re-imagined how the keyboard and mouse tray will operate, along with an interchangeable setup for a racing wheel.
Have a monitor in place (even though it's not exactly what I want).

So, what's left to do? You ask.
I still need to put on the outer skin (of which, I have figured out what materials I will use, along with insulation).
The last of the computer components are also on order (wifi card and SSD)
I've decided and ordered the casters (1-inch nylon, ball casters).
Finish and dial in the keyboard tray, mouse tray, and mounts for the Racing wheel.
Weld the frame and replace the temporary mounts and brackets.


















Some of the components:












Here is the Steering Wheel that will go into the computer. I even made a simple rig for my living room, so I can use it with my Xbox!

wirerogue wrote:

i think you forgot the mini fridge.

Yeah... I suppose my priorities may be a bit skewed.

There WILL be cup holders, though!

frumper15 wrote:

What about this one?  http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor

This would go awesome inside you awesome box unit!! I really want on of these!

Jhutton wrote:

frumper15 wrote:

What about this one?  http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor

This would go awesome inside you awesome box unit!! I really want on of these!

I was hoping to get the 35 or 36 inch version of that monitor, but due to me funding this project personally, I couldn't justify it. I would LOVE a monitor like that. The 38 inch is just slightly, to large for my current configuration. I will be building a secondary set of doors at some point, that will incorporate my original 12 inch wide, doors. That event, I could have substantially larger monitors within the case.

Looking good!

A GTX1070 shouldn't have ANY problem driving an LG 29UM67. Although it's a shame you can't take advantage of it's FreeSync capability, I doubt you'll run into many/any situations where you'll be below that monitor's 75Hz refresh rate anyway even at max settings, so I suppose FreeSync is a bit of a moot point then.

Have you been keeping track of costs? I'd be interested to know what the enclosure ends up costing when all is said and done.

OP: you're totally and completely out of your mind. And awesome.

DPete27 wrote:

Looking good!

A GTX1070 shouldn't have ANY problem driving an LG 29UM67. Although it's a shame you can't take advantage of it's FreeSync capability, I doubt you'll run into many/any situations where you'll be below that monitor's 75Hz refresh rate anyway even at max settings, so I suppose FreeSync is a bit of a moot point then.

Have you been keeping track of costs? I'd be interested to know what the enclosure ends up costing when all is said and done.

Thus far, with all of the computer components, it has cost me a little more than $1900. I probably could have budgeted better and thought through a few things more efficiently, but all in all, not a lot. Many of the parts are recycled (the aluminum frame, for example) and some of the parts have come from older systems or projects of mine. Otherwise, this would have cost me considerably more.

Right now, I have the monitor set at 75hz and it seems to be running happily. In the future, it will be gsync monitor that I will likely install. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to try anything on it yet, but I plan to soon.

morphine wrote:

OP: you're totally and completely out of your mind. And awesome.

THANKS!

krazyredboy wrote:

Have the majority of cabling in place and routed (sans bad HDMI cable, which is now on order).

Why would you order a bad HDMI cable?

Have you thought about using a 4k TV for the monitor? You would miss out on the gSync, but if you get one with a good refresh rate you might not care. In effect, you're trading smoothness for size.

krazyredboy wrote:

The Egg wrote:

You'll have the sweetest setup at TR for sure.  Aside from the cool-factor, my first thoughts were that you might have some trouble mounting and finding ideal placement for the control surfaces.  Having two swinging doors means that all your controls will need to be able to swing out a considerable distance, plus you have the added complication of wires and such.  

Locking one of the doors in place would simplify things considerably in that regard, though you clearly have more ingenuity than myself, so it might not turn out to be an issue.

Actually, I've thought this through. I plan on making adjustable mounts on each of the doors, that contain a simple USB hub for any devices along with an adjustable mouse pad that should be attachable to either door. Secondly, there will be a 8 pin molex connector on each door to supply power for LED lighting, the intake and exhaust fans, and the speaker connections, as there will be a full 5.1 surround system installed, as well. This should allow me to remove the doors whenever I plan to move the system, as I am building it to be mobile, if necessary. There will be castors on the bottom of the main piece, along with the doors for easy transportation. Last... and of course... there will be cup holders in the doors, as well!

Put it on some sturdy wheels that then swivel up or lock for use. Moving this won't be easy, but it could be easier if you plan for it. Looks great.

From last night:
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154401365233526/

Growler wrote:

krazyredboy wrote:

Have the majority of cabling in place and routed (sans bad HDMI cable, which is now on order).

Why would you order a bad HDMI cable?

Have you thought about using a 4k TV for the monitor? You would miss out on the gSync, but if you get one with a good refresh rate you might not care. In effect, you're trading smoothness for size.

Ha! Well... I am a bit of a masochist...

I did think about a 4k monitor, but I was really wanting to make sure I had a smooth image, as opposed to a surplus of pixels.

Stiqy wrote:

krazyredboy wrote:

The Egg wrote:

You'll have the sweetest setup at TR for sure.  Aside from the cool-factor, my first thoughts were that you might have some trouble mounting and finding ideal placement for the control surfaces.  Having two swinging doors means that all your controls will need to be able to swing out a considerable distance, plus you have the added complication of wires and such.  

Locking one of the doors in place would simplify things considerably in that regard, though you clearly have more ingenuity than myself, so it might not turn out to be an issue.

Actually, I've thought this through. I plan on making adjustable mounts on each of the doors, that contain a simple USB hub for any devices along with an adjustable mouse pad that should be attachable to either door. Secondly, there will be a 8 pin molex connector on each door to supply power for LED lighting, the intake and exhaust fans, and the speaker connections, as there will be a full 5.1 surround system installed, as well. This should allow me to remove the doors whenever I plan to move the system, as I am building it to be mobile, if necessary. There will be castors on the bottom of the main piece, along with the doors for easy transportation. Last... and of course... there will be cup holders in the doors, as well!

Put it on some sturdy wheels that then swivel up or lock for use. Moving this won't be easy, but it could be easier if you plan for it. Looks great.

Actually, it's on 1inch, nylon casters. I put them on the other day. It moves around pretty well. As for locks... I'll have to figure that out. Traditional castors with locks had the whole thing sitting too high off of the floor for my comfort.

The power and reset button assembly:




And a link to my facebook video, covering the process of making the mount for the switch panel.
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154406368798526/

C'mon man, almost there. Stick the panels on this bad boy and get us some headcam action

Chrispy_ wrote:

C'mon man, almost there. Stick the panels on this bad boy and get us some headcam action

Yes... it's getting there. However, I still have some wiring to complete, along with interior lighting and then, I have to finish the keyboard tray and steering wheel mounts. All of which are much easier to accomplish without the outer shell.

Soon, though.

Closing yourself up in a small box with a bunch of heat generating devices... do you have an A/C duct routed into it yet?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Closing yourself up in a small box with a bunch of heat generating devices... do you have an A/C duct routed into it yet?

I've calculated that each of the fans in the system (for the seating area) is capable of moving just over half of the internal air volume per minute, within the system. I have two intake and two exhaust fans, which should give more airflow and circulation than necessary. Granted yes, if the outside air temperature is high, I may need to consider an alternate or additional cooling method.

3-2-2017 Update!

I now have interior lighting for the ceiling.
I now have a fan controller and one of my doors completely wired and ready.
I even have a video of my roommate (of whom, does not typically play games) enjoying the setup.

https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154416601123526/

For the door wiring, I decided to make it simple and used an RJ45 connector to connect all of the fans to the fan controller via a CAT6 cable. This made for a simple run of wire to each of the fans and made for a simple connector at the door, for when the doors are removed.











A video of the door fans in action:
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154417050673526/

LED lighting is a 5050 kit, although I may need to change out the controller, as it does not seem to work well with the remote (the remote is fine, as I used it on another set of LED's that I had and it worked just fine).




Lastly, I have my four intake and exhaust fans for the computer compartment, now. They are all 140mm, low RPM fans so that they have the least amount of noise. I bought two, 90 degrees, 4 inch wide PVC pipes, to direct air from the bottom of the case, into the computer compartment, as well (Not pictured).

3-9-2017 Update:
No major changes to note.
I HAD completed the wiring for the fans for the left door... however, I miswired something and managed to kill one of and possibly... both of the fans in that door. I will be figuring that out, shortly.
I bought a new keyboard and mouse from Fry's... and... as anybody that shops as Fry's would know, I had to take one of those items back.

And here is what I was greeted by, upon opening the box.


Newest parts and controllers:



No video updates since the last one, unfortunately. I've been at work and haven't been getting home until late in the evening, only to have an early shift start again, the following day (for the last several days), so there hasn't been much progress. Although, trying to fit a second trip to the nearest Fry's was certainly, fun! It happens to be about an and a half away from where I live, so I don't get to make many trips to that store... and given the propensity for having to return items, I try to limit my exposure to the store in the first place.

Thanks y'all!

BAM!!!

Cup holder!

PC Enthusiast - Now with 70% more lumberjack!

I always like to see case projects. I like it when craftsmanship or engineering and PCs intersect. It's right. There's a lot of impressive engineering and technology in these things and people just fit the parts together like Lego. It's always nice to see when people go a little deeper. When I saw what you had I immediately thought of Star Citizen. I hope that game does this thing justice.

keep it up..

the cup holder, it's gonna drip on the pad

fhohj wrote:

PC Enthusiast - Now with 70% more lumberjack!

I always like to see case projects. I like it when craftsmanship or engineering and PCs intersect. It's right. There's a lot of impressive engineering and technology in these things and people just fit the parts together like Lego. It's always nice to see when people go a little deeper. When I saw what you had I immediately thought of Star Citizen. I hope that game does this thing justice.

Thanks! Overall, I just love to build stuff... and computers... so it was a perfect fit!

AND I am looking forward to playing Star Citizen!

SoM wrote:

keep it up..

the cup holder, it's gonna drip on the pad

Thanks! I uh... will...

Update 3-11-2017

I finally managed to get around to building the keyboard tray. And the first version... well... it failed. But, I will show the pictures anyway:

I started with an old, under-desk style of keyboard tray, that I took off an old desk, out at my local dump/last chance yard.


I removed the mount from the tray, as the tray was actually, about a half an inch too wide! So, I began to make my own tray instead.



I then, mounted the rail onto the case:


However, upon first use of the tray, I found that the tray was too far back and would not tuck away properly. So, I made an extension:



At this point, the keyboard tucked away nicely:





But then! Then, I ran into the next issue... how and where to attach my mouse pad? Crap... It was at this point (and 12:30 in the morning, by the way) that I realized that this particular design would not work. So... I re-thunk it.

I took the old the tray, that I was going to toss out, and modified it to fit with the confines of the case. I wasn't about to let that half an inch deter me!
So... I cut off 4 inches! And this is the result!




It works pretty well, now! I have plenty of room on the mousepad for movement and plenty of space for the keyboard, as well. It tucks into the front nicely, too.

I managed to fix my fan wiring this morning, too. I found out that I had miss-mired the CAT5 connector that I was using in the door, which caused me to create the magic, blue smoke from my fan controller... so now... I'll need a new controller. But otherwise, that cabling is working properly now.

Next up will the be integration of the subwoofer and speaker inputs, into the floor board. Then, put in the last of the door connections so that the doors will be easily removable, when necessary.

Thanks!

3-12-2017 Update!

I had a fairly, productive day, today. I've attached the keyboard tray to a better mount and am now in the process of designing my mount and attachment for the racing controls.

As well, I tore apart my subwoofer and integrated it into the floor, along with the hookups and amplifier for the speaker system. Next up on the speaker front, will be to make my connectors and door patches, so the doors will be truly removable.

It's coming along!

Here is the teardown of the subwoofer and internal electronics for the speakers.





I took the floorboard and cut out a hole for the subwoofer.




I then, split a piece of 2x3 (as I didn't want a lot of weight and it was the only piece of wood that I had laying around that would do the job) in half, after cutting it to the necessary lengths.



I then mounted the power supply for the speaker system within the new box.



I then mounted the speaker and used one of my fan grills, with 4 spacers, as a guard for the speaker.



All that was left was to attach the new floorboard/subwoofer combo onto the case and hook everything up!
You'll also notice that I attached the speaker inputs and subwoofer control to the frame, as well (this made for an easy hookup, but I may try to figure out if there is enough space on the Computer component side of the case to attach it there. So far, it has not bothered my feet in its current position.





The new keyboard mount.





It doesn't sound half bad, either. Granted, without the walls and ceiling, it loses a lot of its punch, but I was able to get it to a decent volume and it was shaking my seat a little bit. It is nice to not have the big box for the subwoofer, down in the foot area anymore.

Thanks!

New bucket seat installed! Whooo!

I'm getting very close to making the final adjustments, begin welding, and putting on the outer skin and insulation!







The last of my door connections (wiring and plates) should be finished by tomorrow night, when I receive my next shipment of parts. Then, I have one more addition to the keyboard mount for the steering wheel attachment, along with a rail for the shift lever.

I'm already enjoying playing games on this system!