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Cardboard case

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BobTheGoldfish

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Feb 13, 2002
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In a Little Bowl
I am getting a new PC that i will be purely using to run a couple of HL servers for the people on the uni network. However being a student I cannot afford a proper case for it at the moment (this is a VERY budget PC atm) so i am planning to bung it all in a cardboard box that i carefully measured out and checked that it could hold everything in it.

So how should i stop all my stuff wobbling about inside seeing as theres nothing to screw anything to?
I would use tape but then when the PSU and HDD get hot it will melt the glue and go icky and therefore not stick.

Note that as its only a server that theres minimal stuff in it (onboard gfx, sound and nic, so only the PSU, HDD and a fan to plonk in around the mb) so nothing has to be suspended from the sides, i'm only wanting to stick it down because i know that otherwise i will kick it or something silly and knock the PSU over onto the mb or something.

If i ever run into some money sometime i'll see if i cant build a proper acrylic case or something swanky for it :)
 
well, definately do not mount your PSU....that thing will bring it all toppling down. Mount everything desktop style....i.e. horizontal, rather than vertical. That way you wont have to worry about it tipping over or anything.

Just be very careful around it....cardboard is not static-proof, and it is easy to crush....dont put it on the ground...put it on a desk or something.
 
Seems like cardboard is a fairly big thermal mass for a case... I would worry about heating more than anything else, but then again I've never built a computer using a cardboard case.
 
Hehehe.. neat...

Seriously.. if it has to be ermm.. Ghetto... get a plate of chipboard .. check the local scrapheap for it... works like a charm on my test rig.. you can mount every solid.

Don't do the cardboard. DONT!
 
If you can find a t.v. stand in a skip somewhere you could use that... =))

Convenient place to put a monitor too
 
you could put it in a drawer, if you were willing to cut a few holes at the back to allow yours leads to pull thru, then you just shut the drawer and there its safe and out the way !!!
 
Unfortunatly the drawers aren't mine to cut up :/

And the warnings against temps have put me off the cardboard.

Do you reckon i could get it pinned onto my notice board. Its quite a sturdy(ish) affair, it takes a fair amaount of effort to get pins solidly in it. I can then leave the HDD and PSU on the desk next to it.

Would push pins be able to hold it up??
 
use wood screws with plastic washers to hold it on the board. That is a sweet idea, i want to cut a hole in my wall and put it all in there. tell us how it works...
 
by the time you spend all the effort and time in making a cardboard case, I would think you'd be better off buying a cheap $27 shipped case online... lol
If you don't even have the money for that, why would you risk the hardware that you have now? Then you'd be out of money and a computer (in case you short something out or something goes wrong with that cardboard case idea....) Don't get me wrong though, just trying to help...
Wow, I guess people take it literally when it says "modding to the xtreme." haha
 
you can more easily and more effectively put a computer together with no case at all. just dont spill anything near it
 
i have done it... kinda a temporary thing though... just put hte fans in places that give the best ariflow and heatig is no problem. i was kinda worried aoiubt static electricity myself but i didnt kill nee thing so i guess its ok:D :eh?: :D
 
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