AT to ATX help

hitokiri_808 · Feb 16, 2005

I need help on which way I should go. I’m modding an old AT case to hold my new comp and I want it to look good when it’s done. I’ve been debating which way I should go about it. The problem is the rear of the case for the card slots and the back panel connections.

I was planning on cutting a hole for the back panel connections, and replacing the motherboard tray with an ATX one. Now only if I had a welder to attach it…

I was thinking of making brackets and just screw the mobo tray to the case.

Anybody got any other ideas or alternatives on what I can do?

After I get this figured out I’m gonna cut holes for 2 120mm fans and a few 80mm fans here and there. Then spend hours sanding and priming, sanding and priming, sanding and priming… sanding and painting, sanding and painting, and so on…

Here are a few pics of the case. What was removed from the case was the HD rack and the part you screw the expansion cards into.

Thanks for any help.

edit:
:bang head

just found this on the net. similar to what i was thinking. i still want to replace the mobo tray though.
http://www.moddingzone.com/articles/at-to-atx/

Susquehannock · Feb 16, 2005

How about pop rivits instead of screws? Too bad you can't have it welded as that
would be best.

Those old AT server cases make awesome projects don't they? They are usually heavy duty. :attn:

A friend of mine modded one a few years back and it turned out great.

Did you say you want to do away with the mobo tray? If so why?
That's my favorite part.

hitokiri_808 · Feb 16, 2005

I need to replace the motherboard tray because none of the holes for ATX boards line up and it has those 2 large holes on it where several screws would be. I was originally planning on just drilling new holes, but that won't work when i saw the tray.

Pop rivets sound like a good idea. Now i gotta find my pop riveter.

Brundle Fly · Feb 17, 2005

Man, that is a sweet case for modding, it's huge, gotta love it, looking forward to this one. :thup:

stool · Feb 17, 2005

When I did a similar operation, I happened to have a junky old ATX case available, so I removed the rear slot cage and I/O plate and tacked them to a cutout area on the AT. I was then able to plan where the mobo had to sit, and using standoffs and spacers, could correctly place the mobo. Any spaces left on the rear of the AT can be filled in with sheet metal.

clocker2 · Feb 17, 2005

The last conversion case I did forced me to deal with the same issues as you.
My solution....

The three mounting rods are 3/8" solid aluminum, drilled and tapped at each end for 6-32NC screws (standard PC case screw size).
The clamps are plastic, sold as cable clamps at any hardware store.
The board is spaced off the rods/clamps with 1/2 plastic standoffs (basically hollow plastic tubes) and regular nuts and screws.
Like so...

I unrivetted the entire AT backplane from the chassis and had a sheetmetal shop fabricate a replacement panel which I then cut to accept the PSU and the ATX I/O and PCI slot panel from a junk case.

The end result was quite professional looking (if I do say so myself) and cost less than $50.

You can also purchase the entire motherboard tray/backpanel from a Lian-li case for under $30 and carve the case back to accept it.

Albaholic · Feb 17, 2005

hehe, dan doesnt look like you cleared much room in there. Anyway, good luck with this one, I know ur gonna need room for those dual xeons

btw clocker2 i may steal your idea for my next upcoming project (which also happens to be a xeon dualie) thanks for sharing

Albaholic · Feb 17, 2005

oh yeah, hey dan i think the auto hobby shop down at barbers has a welder u can use... i think they have a sandblasting box too

sharkmont · Feb 17, 2005

Man are you sure you want to use that case? It doesnt look like it has much room

Good luck!

hitokiri_808 · Feb 18, 2005

sharkmont said:
Man are you sure you want to use that case? It doesnt look like it has much room
Good luck!

actually i wouldn't mind a bigger case. lol

Albaholic said:
hehe, dan doesnt look like you cleared much room in there. Anyway, good luck with this one, I know ur gonna need room for those dual xeons

lol yeah i need to make a lot of room. I was thinking about setting up a beowulf cluster with a bunch of old PIIIs after i get this comp up and running.

clocker2 that looks like an interesting setup. any problem with the motherboard moving around or being loose? And is your motherboard upside down? thanks for the pictures btw. pictures make everything better.

Well the weekend is coming around so that means I have time to chop up the case, and maybe start painting. I just gotta decide which ATX case will be the donor of the mobo tray. Maybe I'll check my school again and see if they got more trash computers. I walked my the dumpster today and saw it was full of computer cases...

I hope they didn't throw away the wide one i was planning on grabbing too. Don't these people realize that those old AT cases still got a little more life in them?

clocker2 · Feb 18, 2005

hitokiri_808 said:
clocker2 that looks like an interesting setup. any problem with the motherboard moving around or being loose? And is your motherboard upside down?

After I had installed the board and slid it down to the back I made spacers out of 3/8" ID black tubing between each clamp ( that's why the whole rod appears black in the pic).
The spacers keep the board from sliding about and also act as an insulator in case the board should somehow touch the rod.
It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the board was spaced far enough inward from the sidepanel that there was room for a 120mm fan between the PCB and panel when installed. This fan was centered between the CPU socket, the northbridge and the DIMM slots and the resulting airflow provided the best cooling that the mobo had ever seen.

Indeed, the board is mounted in pseudo-BTX style.
Since this project I have mounted all my boards thusly, seeking out cases that allow for it ( the CM Stacker and, most recently, the Silverstone TJ06).
The primary benefit is that the hot side of the video card now radiates up instead of being trapped beneath, and, to a lesser extent, cabling is more logical (depending on the layout of your particular motherboard).

hitokiri_808 · Feb 18, 2005

Yeah I always hated how the GPU was on the bottom side of the vid card. It just doesn't make since for cooling. I'll look in to mounting the mobo similar to that, but I think it would be easier with a thick strip of flat metal. I never cared much for drilling holes in rods. lol I should have something I can use lying around my house. If anything, I can use a strip of oak that’s leftover from my desk. At least this way I won't have to dissect a good ATX case.

Albaholic · Feb 23, 2005

what happened to posting updates dan? work on ur case, no one minds someone using power tools at midnight... i do it...no not really.

hitokiri_808 · Mar 3, 2005

Well I finally got around to working on the case. I used a window glass frame thing as the bracket, and I got a ¾” strip of nickel plated steel for the cross bars. It’s all riveted together and seems pretty strong. The bottom half of the case is a lot stiffer too.

Here are some pictures of the case. All that’s left is to drill holes for the mobo standoffs and paint the case.

Cut hole for panel thingy

Bent case and put panel thingy in

Looks good from far away

New mobo mount

Super duper cool computer

My new toys, fan controller, 6 xeon hsfs. 10 crazy loud 60mm fans, and some other junk.

So what do you guys think? and who wants to do all the sanding? huh huh?

JTanczos · Mar 3, 2005

VERY nice.

Did you ever think about something like this for the stand offs? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1244&item=6748706895&rd=1

Just need the right size hole drilled. Pop it in from the back and then pop the MB on to them.

I do have 1 question tho. Why 70MM fans? They are so much louder than larger fans at the same pressure/CFM.

JT

Albaholic · Mar 3, 2005

heh, i think he is using the smaller fans because they were CHEAP. Those plastic standoffs look good for the lazy (me). Hey dan, so when u getting ur board and PSU?
btw u are getting a hell of a lot of more work done then I am.

JTanczos · Mar 3, 2005

Albaholic said:
..... for the lazy (me)......

btw u are getting a hell of a lot of more work done then I am.

You answered your own question there.

JT

hitokiri_808 · Mar 3, 2005

I got the 60mm fans because the xeon hsf uses that size. I though of using an adaptor but it won't fit. Those fans were 10 for $5.00 and the specs are 40CFM / 48dB. There was a discount for buying 10 so I did. Yeah they are loud, but not as loud as the 60mm on my dragon orb III hsf.

I don't care much for the plastic snap on standoffs. The old motherboard in this case used those and I had to cut the heads off the standoffs to take the board out. Anyway I got a million on those regular brass ones.

I dunno when I’ll order the motherboard or psu. I got the money, but I gotta tell my girlfriend I’m gonna spend MORE money on computers. She just doesn’t understand how cool a dual xeon computer would be, or the need of another comp

. She would just freek when I start peiceing together a beowulf cluster.

Well back to case. I been thinking on how to turn it on. It has the big *** AT power switch in the front. I was planning on using 2 momentary switches for the power and restart. But I want to use the AT switch for something else. Maybe the 10 60mm fans? lol or a peltier drink cooler. Hmmm guess I’ll have to intergrade that into the case aswell. Any cool ideas guys?

Albaholic · Mar 4, 2005

Jtanczos said:
You answered your own question there.

JT

wasnt really a ? it was more of a statement

Hikitori_808 said:
I dunno when I’ll order the motherboard or psu. I got the money, but I gotta tell my girlfriend I’m gonna spend MORE money on computers. She just doesn’t understand how cool a dual xeon computer would be, or the need of another comp . She would just freek when I start peiceing together a beowulf cluster.

Heh, well she already knows about the dual xeons. She wont notice the cluster,at least i dont think she would, besides xeons come before cluster, lemme know when ur gonna get urs so we can consolidate our orders

hitokiri_808 · Mar 5, 2005

I was thinking about the plastic standoffs again and maybe they won't be so bad. They would be more forgiving to non perfectly drilled holes.

Well I'm off to sand and paint... sand and paint... sand and pain...

AT to ATX help

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