[WIP] Wooden Case...

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 27, 2013

Hey guys!

Here's my current case:

It's my pre-built sig rig, and there is no room for my new MSI R6850 in there.
So I'm gonna build a case out of wood

Any suggestions are welcome, but my main concerns are:
How to properly ground the cards/psu/mobo??

And how to hook up the power switch? (Maybe just use a screw driver to short the pins???

Can I even do that?)

I'm real good with wood, my grandfather is a cabinet maker so my dad picked up all the tricks of the trade and passed most of them on to me

Whatddya think? Should be an easy build right?

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 28, 2013

Wow, I can't believe I bumped my own thread.

Well? Someone must know how to ground everything!
Should I install a strip of aluminum as a ground bar in my wooden case?

I'll start building it tomorrow, it will be about 20"x16" and whatever width I feel like building.

Pics will follow the building phase. :thup:

godevskii · Dec 29, 2013

I think your main concern should be the air flow and temperatures inside a wooden case.

For the power button you can use a anti-vandal switch, and for securing the mb and pci-slots, your best option is to cut your mb tray and the back of your actual case, and them place them on the wood case.

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

godevskii said:
I think your main concern should be the air flow and temperatures inside a wooden case.

For the power button you can use a anti-vandal switch, and for securing the mb and pci-slots, your best option is to cut your mb tray and the back of your actual case, and them place them on the wood case.

Thanks!

Yeah, I'll cut a few holes into my wood case, and I'll be sure to install all fans I have available.

The wood case will be open, just like my current case, no side so that everything stays cooler.

About that anti-vandal switch, what exactly is that? Just a push button switch?

Mr.Scott · Dec 29, 2013

You don't need to worry about grounding. Everything is grounded through the PSU ATX connector.

As long as the PSU is plugged into a properly grounded receptacle, you're fine.

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

Mr.Scott said:
You don't need to worry about grounding. Everything is grounded through the PSU ATX connector.
As long as the PSU is plugged into a properly grounded receptacle, you're fine.

Sweet!
Thanks Mr.Scott!

And as I promised, some pics:
I won't lie, it looked a lot cleaner/nicer in my head

I was expecting to use some nice wood that I could stain and coat in lacquer, but all I could use was crummy MDF left over from my brother's bunk bed. I'll paint the case either Flat Black, or "Shed Green" as we call it, we still have 2 gallons left over from painting our wood and storage sheds.

Top of case

Test PSU seems to fit nicely...

I was however able to find a nicer piece of Plywood, that will become the front.

Inside of case...

And this is where I'm at, I'll need my actual PSU now to fit, and my mobo. So I need to tear down my rig....

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

More pics!

PSU attatched....

Mobo and drives hooked up...

Lots of room for the 6850 now! (Yes that is a modded Pcix 1x slot, I just cut the end open. Hopefully the 6850 will work in it)

Mr.Scott · Dec 29, 2013

that is a modded Pcix 1x slot, I just cut the end open. Hopefully the 6850 will work in it

Don't do that.

Contra · Dec 29, 2013

looking good, but make a shelf for the PSU, it makes it look better and easier to swap out if needed

godevskii · Dec 29, 2013

Silver_Pharaoh said:
(Yes that is a modded Pcix 1x slot, I just cut the end open. Hopefully the 6850 will work in it)

That won't work.

The pci-e 1x doesn't deliver the additional power required to make your gpu work. And even if it did, the bandwidth on a pci-e 1x is so low that you would have a crappy performance.

Why don't you swap your gpu for the first pci-e lane, that seems to be 16x?

Mr.Scott · Dec 29, 2013

godevskii said:
That won't work.

The pci-e 1x doesn't deliver the additional power required to make your gpu work. And even if it did, the bandwidth on a pci-e 1x is so low that you would have a crappy performance.

Exactly.

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

Mr.Scott said:
Don't do that.

Already done :-/

godevskii said:
That won't work.

The pci-e 1x doesn't deliver the additional power required to make your gpu work. And even if it did, the bandwidth on a pci-e 1x is so low that you would have a crappy performance.

Why don't you swap your gpu for the first pci-e lane, that seems to be 16x?

Mr.Scott said:
Exactly.

Of course, I would but the 6850 is only for crypto mining. and crypto mining does not need more than 1x bandwidth.

And the 6850 needs the pci power connector form the psu so it *should* work, I've read/seen many videos on this...
(I might test my 550ti in that slot now....)

But, If I decide to only run the 6850, I would be a fool to leave it in the 1x slot, I've done some homework on pci lately. Even if the 6850 refuses to run in the modded slot, I can still run a pci 1x card in there..

Time will tell if the modded slot will work. (fingers crossed I didn't cut it open for nothing!)

Oh, final build pics:

Everything runs at least 8 C colder! So my new case is a winner in my books, although it's ugly as hell... :shrug:

I will paint it one day too...

dyckah · Dec 29, 2013

He just wants it for mining, and pcie 1x is enough bandwidth for mining, many people use pcie 1x-16x adaptors

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

dyckah said:
He just wants it for mining, and pcie 1x is enough bandwidth for mining, many people use pcie 1x-16x adaptors

Yup, I guess we will find out if it's enough when the card arrives...

Mr.Scott · Dec 29, 2013

Had no idea it was just a miner.

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

Mr.Scott said:
Had no idea it was just a miner.

Yeah, sorry Mr.Scott, I forgot to mention that in my first post. :facepalm:

That's why I modded my Pcix 1x slot, I only have 1 Pcix 16x slot.

~~Now I just need my card. Darn USPS, quite slow over the holidays, I imagine that they had gift coming out of their eyeballs!~~

EDIT: Yessssss! Card is in Canadian Customs now! Should be here by tomorrow! :thup:

godevskii · Dec 29, 2013

Silver_Pharaoh said:
Of course, I would but the 6850 is only for crypto mining. and crypto mining does not need more than 1x bandwidth.

That thought has crossed my mind, but since you didn't said anything...
But you have to remember that 1x lanes only outputs a max. of 10w, mining boards that use pci-e 1x have additional molex or 8 pin power to feed those lanes.

10w may not seem much, but it could be enough to make the card not run.

I guess it all depend on how well is the power distribution balanced on the 6850 that you are getting.

But i hope it works :thup:

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

godevskii said:
That thought has crossed my mind, but since you didn't said anything...
But you have to remember that 1x lanes only outputs a max. of 10w, mining boards that use pci-e 1x have additional molex or 8 pin power to feed those lanes.

10w may not seem much, but it could be enough to make the card not run.

I guess it all depend on how well is the power distribution balanced on the 6850 that you are getting.

But i hope it works

Indeed, the 6850 I bought needs the 6 pin pci power from the psu. I will use the last 12v rail for that, instead of using the molex to 6 pin power cable that comes with the card.

That should power it right? It needs the external power, so it shouldn't matter how many watts the pci slot puts out?

Silver_Pharaoh · Dec 29, 2013

So yeah, I put my 550ti in the modded pcix 1x slot and all I got was beep codes from the mobo...

1 long and 2 short beeps = Video card malfunction.
I've read about shorting certain pins on the slot, should I try that??

Here's the link to the shorting pins thing: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36061.0

Tell me your thoughts guys....

EDIT: I figured it out!!!! This is my N550GTX Cyclone II:

And this is the R6850 Power ED/OC:

Now look at the gold fingers..... See? the 550 ti is missing the gold fingers that tell the mobo to run the card at 1x speeds! The 550 ti will never work in a 1x slot!!

Now, the R6850 has all the fingers, so it should work in my modded 1x slot!
I will post the results when the card arrives! :thup:

87dtna · Dec 30, 2013

Yeah the least those kind of cards will run in is a x4 slot.

[WIP] Wooden Case...

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