PET mod

BDRBDR
edited October 2003 in Hardware
This will be my first (and maybe last) mod, depending on how it goes. ;D
I'll be doing this slowly and adding pics to this thread as I go.

The subject that's going under the knife~

Comments

  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    The insides~
    (whew, this thing's been sitting awhile)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    One piece of advice that I can offer:

    I've modded a few cases/computers before, and going slowly is really, really, REALLY important... which explains why my mods generally look as awful as they do ;D

    But yeah, take it slow, measure twice, cut once, blah blah blah blah. Oh, and be careful with that CRT. Those things can be deadly (literally), even after they've been unplugged.

    //Edit

    Also, because I'm somewhat impatient... what are you planning on doing with it? Or should I just wait and see?
  • t1rhinot1rhino Toronto
    edited September 2003
    What is your plan?
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    No particular plan yet.
    I have some spare parts that I'll look at tomorrow, and see if I can figure out the best way to set things in the case.

    Trial and error, I'm sure.
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Bottom case panel-
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Case top, cleaned up-
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Back panel-
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited September 2003
    That open slot on the back panel (behind where the transformer was), how large is it compaired to the slot needed in an ATX case?

    /me now really wishes he had thought of this a year ago. :grumble:
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    SMJ, it's on teh wrong side for an atx board; I'd suggest a putting the PS there.
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Trial layout inside the case-

    I'm thinking some drives may need to be external.
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    another view
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    with cover on

    it's close quarters
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    I've pretty much decided that all drives will need to be external, in order to give it room for airflow.
  • t1rhinot1rhino Toronto
    edited September 2003
    If it has lan, does it really need a floppy or cdrom?
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    It doesn't need them, no.

    I have one tower that runs without a floppy or optical drive.
    It'll work until I need to re-install Windows.

    I'm thinking that a micro ATX with on board lan, sound and video is probably the way to go on this too.

    There's not realy enough room for full sized PCI or AGP cards, as far as height is concerned.

    This is still in the planning stage and I've got nothing but time.

    :)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    BDR, if you want an add-in graphics card, how about getting a riser for it? www.adex-elec.com sells all sorts of riser boards, including a number of agp 2x, 4x, and 8x right angle risers of varying heights. Look into them. Also, part of the problem is the size of the PS. Look into a MicroATX, 2u, or 1u PS.

    You'll need airflow across that hard drive, unless it's a 5400rpm or slower drive... I suggest getting a 1u ps, and putting it under the floppy and optical drives. They're about 8x4x1.5" or so, so it shouldn't be a problem. Without any measurements or anything I couldn't make any other suggestions tho.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Also, I'd try to rotate it 90* so the board is at the back, with the drives at the front. Is there any way you could measure the inside of the case? I've got an idea or two, but I don't know if they'll work or not...

    But, here's what I was thinking... (the black box is the case btw...) Just keep in mind that nothing is to scale, so I don't know if this will work or not... but I've been trying to cram a desktop into a semi-portable, pseudo-laptop form factor for a while, so I've gotten a bit of experience with cramming a lot of crap into a little space :D
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    Gah! forgot the image!
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited September 2003
    Here's the layout I was thinking. Just a note: The HDD is mounted vert.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited September 2003
    No dont get a riser card. They suck!

    Get a micro-itx board if you want something 200mm*200mm in size with LAN, AUD, VID. They come in both DDR and SDRAM versions but all are Cyrix integrated CPUs so performance is nothing to brag about.

    And thats a lot of room compared to other mods. Still some 40mm fans in the back and that should get rid of most of it. Make sure to have the PSU fan blowing out.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited September 2003
    mmonin... Cyrix? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww! ;D

    MicroATX + riser board is the way to go I think in this err... case.

    Also, I was talking to TheSMJ on AIM... you may want to look @ http://www.earthlcd.com/ which SMJ pointed me to... it's the only place I've seen that has LCDs small enough to fit in that PET's monitor enclosure without being absurdly small...
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Ok, here are the measurements of the case.

    It's 18" from front to back, but only 17" useable due to a prop that's in the front that holds the top up (think of the old car hoods).

    It's 15" wide.

    It is only 3 1/2 inches deep at back, and that tapers down to
    1 3/4 at front. It's a full 3 1/2' from the back to about 11" towards the front, where the kb would then have to go anyway.


    Ok- the monitor section has a 8 1/2" (viewable) screen (measuring diagonal).
    I'm in the process of removing the monitor and it's freakin' me out. What do I NOT want to touch? I have it all ready to remove, except for one screw that's in there very tight (of course :rolleyes:).
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited September 2003
    Dont touch any big cylinder things. They are capacitors and hold large amounts of energy. Sometimes weeks after its last use. Dont touch the ray tube wrapped in wire either.
  • BDRBDR
    edited September 2003
    Ok, it's out.

    :D
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited September 2003
    @BDR: Whats the max amount your willing to spend on a monitor that will fit the PET's monitor enclosure?

    I have a couple ideas (well, Geeky1 helped ;) ), but they cost ~$400 for a complete solution (Yet it would fit perfectly).

    I have some lower cost ideas, but they are smaller and might not have QUITE the image quality as the above.
  • BDRBDR
    edited October 2003
    TheSmJ said
    @BDR: Whats the max amount your willing to spend on a monitor that will fit the PET's monitor enclosure?

    I have a couple ideas (well, Geeky1 helped ;) ), but they cost ~$400 for a complete solution (Yet it would fit perfectly).

    I have some lower cost ideas, but they are smaller and might not have QUITE the image quality as the above.

    $400 is not out of the question, but I'd have to wait awhile.
    Cash crunch right now, with taxes and auto insurance due.

    I'd love to hear your ideas. Even the lower cost ones, then I'd have a choice.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited October 2003
    have to draw something up... I'll try to do it in my C class today... ;D;D
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