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I was going to place this in the Case Gallery, but seeing as how this is not yet finished, I didn't think that would be very prudent of me.

So, this is my latest computer case! It will be a fully enclosed, modular based, simulator style computer!

I will update this post, as time and the project progresses.

Currently, I have built most of the center framework and will be working on the doors very soon. I'm planning on only taking around a month or two to complete this project, provided I can find the time and afford the materials and components.

I'm creating the frame out of square, aluminum tubing. This aluminum is basically, old frame kits from projection screens that have been retired and tossed out by my employer. I do plan to weld all of the joints, but for now, I have used screws and brackets to secure everything together. I'm happy to report that at the current moment, Ii can hang by the two crossbars on top, with all of my weight (240lbs) with very little flex, so I think it is plenty rigid.

I haven't completely decided if I will do the triple screen setup or go with a single, large, curved display in the center. That may be one of the final decisions as it gets closer to completion.

I plan to make as much material as I can to be modular. This will not be a system that I plan to keep for myself, so I want to keep the whole thing easily upgradable and easy to attach any number of input devices and components to the chassis. My renders do not show my plans for the doors, the keyboard tray, the support beam for a steering wheel and other such devices as of yet, but those will be included.

Again, this is a work in progress, but I hope to have this exciting build ready to view and use, around christmas time.

Tell me what ya think!

computer case 3 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer11 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer8 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer9 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer6 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer5 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer4 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer3 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
computer case by krazyredboy, on Flickr
computer components in frame by krazyredboy, on Flickr
computer components in frame3 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
Case and computer2 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
computer case 6 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161019_002017 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161019_002008 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_173029 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_165358 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_165352 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_153814 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_153752 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_141602 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161018_141548 by krazyredboy, on Flickr

krazyredboy wrote:

Tell me what ya think!

I think that's absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way.  

Redocbew wrote:

krazyredboy wrote:

Tell me what ya think!

I think that's absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way.  

Thanks! That's... sort of what I was going for!

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.

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!

I'm curious what you aim to play on this. Would be ideal for space/flight/driving sims, that's for sure.

Given that you're going to be in a potentially very dark room, I hope you're going for either TN screens with low black levels or an AMVA panel for inky dark blacks!

Also, I'm curious why you're going with 3x1 screens instead of, say, a 4K television (curved would be even better!) Bezels sure do ruin a gaming experience and having tried the 21:9 ultrawide master race I'd never want to go back to multi-monitor gaming ever again

Chrispy_ wrote:

I'm curious what you aim to play on this. Would be ideal for space/flight/driving sims, that's for sure.

Given that you're going to be in a potentially very dark room, I hope you're going for either TN screens with low black levels or an AMVA panel for inky dark blacks!

Also, I'm curious why you're going with 3x1 screens instead of, say, a 4K television (curved would be even better!) Bezels sure do ruin a gaming experience and having tried the 21:9 ultrawide master race I'd never want to go back to multi-monitor gaming ever again

That is what I'm considering. I created the renders for this project almost 4 years ago, so it's been sitting on the backburner for me, for quite a while. I want to make the doors slightly, less wide than I had initially intended and being able to use an ultrawide, curved monitor would certainly aid in that endeavor. I don't think I want to use a 4k but would rather go with a 21/9 screen in the 3440x1440 variety or similar to that. I agree with you about the bezels, though. I was researching ultra thin bezel types for setup for a while and when it comes down to it, I'd be spending nearly as much on 3 quality monitors, with thin bezels, as I would on a single, high quality, curved monitor.

Surely an Oculus or HTC Vive costs less and takes up far less space.

If this is primarily for gaming, consider the Predator Z35 or its XZ350 Freesync equivalent - curved, 35" AMVA 200Hz 2560x1080 screen.
AOC have an even cheaper screen based on the same panel, but it's not VESA mountable because the electronics and connectors are built into the stand
/facepalm

I know it's a "low resolution" at 2560x1080, but:

1. It looks to be further from your face than a typical desktop setup
2. It's an AMVA panel so very low black level and no IPS glow for your darkened environment
3. 2560x1080 makes it much easier to get good framerates than at 1440p. I had a 1440p60 screen and the trade to 1080p at faster refresh rates was definitely worth it for gaming.

DPete27 wrote:

Surely an Oculus or HTC Vive costs less and takes up far less space.

Definitely, but I want to rip the HTC Vive off my face after just half an hour. Was playing Elite:Dangerous last weekend on a borrowed Vive and it's not something I'd be willing to use for more than an hour. My eyes hurt, it's soft-focus and as light as the headset is, it's still WAY too heavy.

Chrispy_ wrote:

If this is primarily for gaming, consider the Predator Z35 or its XZ350 Freesync equivalent - curved, 35" AMVA 200Hz 2560x1080 screen.
AOC have an even cheaper screen based on the same panel, but it's not VESA mountable because the electronics and connectors are built into the stand
/facepalm

I know it's a "low resolution" at 2560x1080, but:

1. It looks to be further from your face than a typical desktop setup
2. It's an AMVA panel so very low black level and no IPS glow for your darkened environment
3. 2560x1080 makes it much easier to get good framerates than at 1440p. I had a 1440p60 screen and the trade to 1080p at faster refresh rates was definitely worth it for gaming.

DPete27 wrote:

Surely an Oculus or HTC Vive costs less and takes up far less space.

Definitely, but I want to rip the HTC Vive off my face after just half an hour. Was playing Elite:Dangerous last weekend on a borrowed Vive and it's not something I'd be willing to use for more than an hour. My eyes hurt, it's soft-focus and as light as the headset is, it's still WAY too heavy.

Thanks. Yes, I do like the idea of a Gsync or Freesync monitor and have it be ultrawide. The distance from the screen however, may be the sticking point for me, as I will be around 2ft. or less from the screen. I do have very good vision and right now, my 23" IPS monitors at 1080 give me pause, which is why I'd like a 1440 setup. I plan to have beefy video cards, if I can afford that option, so I don't think the 1440 will be too much of a stretch. I do like the idea of "no glow" on the screen, as the environment will indeed, be darker than normal.

Also, I agree with you about the VR setups. I have yet to come away from a VR experience without a massive headache or a sickly stomach, so even though this idea came around long before the vast arrays of VR's hit the marketplace, this was going to be the ideal setup for me.

Your build skills are mad mate, this is an excellent project!

Big shoutout, however, to your CAD skills. To a simple bloke like me who's had the odd dabble in SketchUp, you're a magician. Top job!

The trick to reducing glow on IPS is a curve, so that you're never seeing it "off angle". Sadly, all the "curved" IPS screens are effectively a gimmick, in that they're effectively flat at normal monitor viewing distances. 3800R curve means that they're designed for a television and sofa setup with the viewer 3.8m away. 

The AMVA panels don't suffer from this but they're also curved far more aggressively. I'm sitting in front of an 1800R curved AMVA panel and it's incredible, but the downside there is that all of the AMVA options with great black levels that I'm aware of are low-dpi, meaning that they're all 2560x1080p models. If you want to keep an eye on options though, bookmark 144HzMonitors.com, it's a sortable list where you can filter as long as you want 144Hz.

Many of the IPS ultrawides aren't 144Hz though, so don't use it as an exclusive source.

On a completely different note, it's nice with a dedicated gaming booth to have space for an iPad or other web-capable device. There are still a few games where you don't want to break the immersion by alt-tabbing, and running Windowed either ruins the game or hampers performance. I have my laptop doing web-browser duty for a lot of what I do, and I think I would want that feature in any gaming rig of mine.

Perhaps an iPad holder 8" above your mouse mat? Not too far out of line of sight, but still out of the way.

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

very wide plus IPS - "glow-tastic".

I know it says it's curved, but it's really not; R4000 is practically flat from a viewing angle and "immersive surround" point of view.

juzz86 wrote:

Your build skills are mad mate, this is an excellent project!

Big shoutout, however, to your CAD skills. To a simple bloke like me who's had the odd dabble in SketchUp, you're a magician. Top job!

Thank you very much! Actually, oddly enough, I created the 3D sketches in a program called Vue. It's really designed for created landscapes, but I know a few tricks to use it for accurate size rendering and whatnot. I'm strange that way.

Update, as of the Evening of 10-24-2016!

I've made quite a bit of progress, even though I have really only spent about two days of working on this project, due to being out of town and having to be at work. Here are some more pictures, plus (provided it works) a couple of links to some quick videos!

20161024_174248 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_174305 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_174319 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_202322 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_202316 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_212621 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_212936 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_212955 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_213048 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
20161024_213057 by krazyredboy, on Flickr


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZEbk5aOVZzdEtNQUU/view?usp=sharing
Link to a video that shows how light the frame is. I can pick it up with two fingers!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZEblpRSXo5SmVlNGs/view?usp=sharing
Link to another video of me doing a stress test and some other information.

A video I made this evening, showing the attached doors, working hinges, some handles, a seat and a few other features.

It's about 4 minutes long.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZETnE2YmVYNnNBNFU/view?usp=sharing

Another Video update. It's about 4 minutes long, like the previous video.

Progress!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZEdG1YUGFQTzFETGc/view?usp=sharing

Video won't play.

krazyredboy wrote:

Another Video update.  It's about 4 minutes long, like the previous video.

Progress!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZETnE2YmVYNnNBNFU/view?usp=sharing

I really love this project, and I'm glad you're documenting it for us so thoroughly.  Keep it up!  With that being said, I have one criticism:  I think you've made the box a little too narrow.  It might be that I can't really get an accurate sense of scale from the video, but I feel as though you aren't going to have a whole lot of room to wiggle around.  For example, the part where you pointed out where the mousepad will go; it seems like you aren't going to have a lot of room for a very large mousepad.  Also, as someone who likes to cross his legs a lot I don't think I'd have enough space to do that inside your awesome case.  I'm also slightly worried that the computer monitor might be a little too close to your face, but again, that may just be me failing to accurately judge the distances involved due to the perspective of the video.

All in all, I think this is a sweet build and you're clearly taking your time and doing things nicely.  I'm eager to see the finished product!

DPete27 wrote:

Video won't play.

Try now. I forgot to make it public.

Acidicheartburn wrote:

krazyredboy wrote:

Another Video update.  It's about 4 minutes long, like the previous video.

Progress!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnPLyniZETnE2YmVYNnNBNFU/view?usp=sharing

I really love this project, and I'm glad you're documenting it for us so thoroughly.  Keep it up!  With that being said, I have one criticism:  I think you've made the box a little too narrow.  It might be that I can't really get an accurate sense of scale from the video, but I feel as though you aren't going to have a whole lot of room to wiggle around.  For example, the part where you pointed out where the mousepad will go; it seems like you aren't going to have a lot of room for a very large mousepad.  Also, as someone who likes to cross his legs a lot I don't think I'd have enough space to do that inside your awesome case.  I'm also slightly worried that the computer monitor might be a little too close to your face, but again, that may just be me failing to accurately judge the distances involved due to the perspective of the video.

All in all, I think this is a sweet build and you're clearly taking your time and doing things nicely.  I'm eager to see the finished product!

Thanks. It's 3ft. wide and has more than enough arm space from side to side, to make it comfortable. The mouse pad area will be foldable, for when the door opens and for transportation. Everything is wide enough to the point that I have to make mounts and bring them in further for the mouse pad and game controller pad.

As for the monitor, it will be just over two feet from my face, which should be good for a 34" curved monitor.

And yes, the perspective from the videos do make it difficult. Soon enough, I'm going to have someone else film me getting in, sitting down and utilizing some of the functions of the case, to give a better sense of how everything fits.

Sorry for the bad links. Evidently, I didn't make any of my videos public, but that should be fixed, now. Please let me know if they work!

Update for 11-10-2016
Slowly progressing. Here are some updates:
1. The seat is now attached. Should I decided to get a better one, I will just have to create a new mount for it.
2. Speakers are mounted. In the pictures, you will see that I had mounted them high, but if you watch the video, you will notice that I moved them down.
3. Subwoofer is mounted for now, but... I may decide to build an enclosure and port it through the floor, at the foot plate.
4. The cage for the computer hardware has been fabricated and slides in and out as I had planned... er, well... mostly like I had planned. It does have some resistance to it, as I managed to build it a little too tight for comfort. In fact, I've already broken one of the slide rail wheels, while trying to get it out. It will have to be replaced and the rails will have to adjust, slightly.

Tell me whatcha think!

20161104_141020 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
The main control speaker. In the first position that I had mounted it.
20161104_141030 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
A look at some of the cable routing.
20161107_214557 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
How the computer component cage looks, when pushed into its resting position.
20161107_214604 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
The computer component cage as it's pulled out.
20161104_145250 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
This is the bottom of the seat, where you can see how I've mounted the seat rails. This is non-adjustable, for now.
20161107_214609 by krazyredboy, on Flickr
One more look at how the cage slides out.

Please take a gander at this video, for more of the details!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxyDnP ... sp=sharing

How much does the frame weigh?

DPete27 wrote:

How much does the frame weigh?

Just the frame, without anything else (cabling, seat, speakers, etc.), is around 17 lbs. for the center, about 5 lbs. for each of the doors.

I should add, those weights were prior to the component cage, but that didn't add much at all.

I could very easily, pick up the whole center frame, with just two fingers.

So... for some reason, I'm having quite a lot of difficulty posting my links to Google Drive, for public viewing. I've decided to take an alternate route and opened up my Facebook Photo album, to be viewable by the public. This should make it easier to see all of the videos that I have posted recently and will continue to post! I will even include some links to some live broadcasts that I have made, as well!

Thanks for tuning in!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154028976508526.1073741852.674413525&type=1&l=c0841e2400

Live video on 2-14-2017
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154374391028526/

Most Recent Live Videos, as of 2-16-2017
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154380318583526/ Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/no.other.bob/videos/10154380387213526/ Part 2

Where did you get the CAD files for the PC components? They look a lot more detailed than what you'd need and probably care to spend time detailing.

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

spiritwalker2222 wrote:

Where did you get the CAD files for the PC components? They look a lot more detailed than what you'd need and probably care to spend time detailing.

I created them in a 3d program, called VUE. I believe I used version 8, at the time.