My xMac Project

[Schtumple]

If it is a efficient power supply you will be fine but if it is a cheap pos you probably will run into problems. A decent 550watt psu can easily power a quad core 8800 series card so if it is a decent power supply you will be fine.

I don't think you can get 550W mini PSU's? It cost me £50, so it better be good bloody quality!

Waiting for my dad to sort the front grill, could be a while, if it were his project, or a friends, he would've done it last week.

worlds smallest violin anyone?

 

[lost eden]

I don't think you can get 550W mini PSU's? It cost me £50, so it better be good bloody quality!

Waiting for my dad to sort the front grill, could be a while, if it were his project, or a friends, he would've done it last week.

worlds smallest violin anyone?

No, you can't really get sub-ATX PSUs much above 300W unless you start looking for 1U server supplies (but they will be noisy as ****). But don't worry, you won't even need 100W to run that system once it's spun up. Though, I have to say that you were majorly ripped off if you payed £50 for it; you could've bought a second hand Shuttle PSU on ebay for less than half that price, or even pulled one for free from the slim desktop machines that corporations throw out all the time.

 

[Schtumple]

No, you can't really get sub-ATX PSUs much above 300W unless you start looking for 1U server supplies (but they will be noisy as ****). But don't worry, you won't even need 100W to run that system once it's spun up. Though, I have to say that you were majorly ripped off if you payed £50 for it; you could've bought a second hand Shuttle PSU on ebay for less than half that price, or even pulled one for free from the slim desktop machines that corporations throw out all the time.

Yeah I know, I went into the store (ordered it online), and they had it for £10 cheaper, which pissed me off a bit...

and I live in the middle of nowhere, no corporations here...

Here's a perfectly detailed auto cad drawing for my dad, this is what he'll use to cut the metal with

 

[lost eden]

Yeah I know, I went into the store (ordered it online), and they had it for £10 cheaper, which pissed me off a bit...

and I live in the middle of nowhere, no corporations here...

Here's a perfectly detailed auto cad drawing for my dad, this is what he'll use to cut the metal with

You need to learn to search around online a bit before going to the local store. I just found what looks like the exact same supply at my regular etailer (who aren't even the cheapest around) for £31.13.

 

[Schtumple]

You need to learn to search around online a bit before going to the local store. I just found what looks like the exact same supply at my regular etailer (who aren't even the cheapest around) for £31.13.

I did, I bought it online, from maplin.co.uk, I checked the regulars, ebuyer, cclonline.com, maplin and dabs... I went for maplin...

 

[lost eden]

I avoid Maplin except when I don't have the time to wait for next day delivery. They're usually hideously overpriced for computer components & their prices never drop in line with the continued devaluation of the components.

Truth be told, what with the low spec of the machine, you probably would've been fine with this one for £14.09.

 

[Lucas44]

hi there, i stumbled across this thread and i'm glad i did. looks like a really interesting project. one thing i noticed is that the holes in your autocad drawing are in a grid arrangement. the mac pro holes are in more of a diamond pattern if you see what i mean. if you are after the look of the mac pro grill then it might be worth re-drawing a template before your dad machines the aluminium. just my thoughts.

keep up the good work!

 

[Schtumple]

hi there, i stumbled across this thread and i'm glad i did. looks like a really interesting project. one thing i noticed is that the holes in your autocad drawing are in a grid arrangement. the mac pro holes are in more of a diamond pattern if you see what i mean. if you are after the look of the mac pro grill then it might be worth re-drawing a template before your dad machines the aluminium. just my thoughts.

keep up the good work!

I may do this, the current holes don't line up to a 80mm fan's screw holes (they're something like 76.5mm apart :|), I've gone for each hole is 3mm diameter and 5mm apart (from the centres), but I may up it to 4.5mm and 7.6 mm apart, just so the fans will fit

I shall do some other designs later

EDIT:

I avoid Maplin except when I don't have the time to wait for next day delivery. They're usually hideously overpriced for computer components & their prices never drop in line with the continued devaluation of the components.

Truth be told, what with the low spec of the machine, you probably would've been fine with this one for £14.09.

I now have that site in my favorites, but that fan would be sticking out and touching the motherboard, I'm happy with the one I bought, even if I did get ripped off majorly

But the site has been noted, thank you.

EDIT the 2nd

Here is the "diamond design", I love the array tool, drawing this would take forever without that

 

[Schtumple]

Ok so, hit a pretty major annoyance today, my order came today, which was nice, I got my super quiet fans, I got a white UV fan (not what I ordered) and I got a CPU cooler, which is miles bigger than ebuyers measurements :|

Due to the shear size of the cooler, the hard drives have had to be moved, attached is a photo of the new layout, only 1 drive can now fit and that will have to be held vertically by the top panel, which means, the light up apple logo is no longer possible

My dad (very predictably) has now begun his reign of excuses for not being able to do the front panel (2 of which have contradicted each other ) I'm considering just drilling the holes pain stakingly by hand (using an electric drill of course ), which sadly will make it look like most of the other mac mods, crap

(no offense, some mac mods are pretty awesome)

All in all, this is one of the major problems with relying on other people, generally, you can't.

 

[peter32892]

Well if you buy a smaller disk drive like a laptop size you could probably mount the harddrive right below the drive or to even make things smaller get a laptop harddrive and a laptop dvd drive.

 

[Schtumple]

Well if you buy a smaller disk drive like a laptop size you could probably mount the harddrive right below the drive or to even make things smaller get a laptop harddrive and a laptop dvd drive.

I'm trying to outsource products as little as possible, the whole point of this project was to completely reuse my old pc, without changing any of the parts, I've found a way to mount both hard drives, I found a hard drive rack, by sawing it down, 2 drives can fit inbetween the CPU and graphics card, just

Going to the store and buying all new hardware specifically for this is just lazy, I prefer challenging myself.

 

[Woder-Woman]

such a shame that schtuff has gone wrong but as you are a genius schtumple you will fix it, have fun sawing

 

[Schtumple]

such a shame that schtuff has gone wrong but as you are a genius schtumple you will fix it, have fun sawing

to everyone, this is my girlfriend....

she's a bit odd, it's best just to leave her be

EDIT ADD-ON:

todays progress:

hard drive caddy thingy has been "built" in

 

[RedTomato]

why not just get a smaller cooler? they're pretty cheap, or to fit in with your diy ethos, you could scrounge one off another PC.

If you find a friendly repair shop, they might even accept a swap for a smaller cooler, as bigger ones are generally more expensive. That would fit your ethos of not spending money on it.

Or you could cut down the one you have - take some plastic off.

 

[Schtumple]

why not just get a smaller cooler? they're pretty cheap, or to fit in with your diy ethos, you could scrounge one off another PC.

If you find a friendly repair shop, they might even accept a swap for a smaller cooler, as bigger ones are generally more expensive. That would fit your ethos of not spending money on it.

Or you could cut down the one you have - take some plastic off.

After all the hard work i put into getting a hard drive caddy on there

I'm happy with it how it is for now, but thank you, also thank you for not suggesting I just go out and spend spend spend

 

[UMHurricanes34]

...........So



how goes it?

 

[Schtumple]

No where, my dads taking a "not my project, not my responsibility" attitude, so the front will never get done, seriously, after his promise of "I'll take it to the workshop this weekend" it's now turned to "Can't you drill it yourself?"

For now, the project is on hold.

 

[zeedee-h]

show him now many people are interested

 

[UMHurricanes34]

show him now many people are interested

Or just threaten to call child services and tell them he abuses you.

 

[lofight]

No where, my dads taking a "not my project, not my responsibility" attitude, so the front will never get done, seriously, after his promise of "I'll take it to the workshop this weekend" it's now turned to "Can't you drill it yourself?"

For now, the project is on hold.

Is your father that lazy?

 

[lost eden]

Any particular reason why you chose a (relatively expensive) tall HSF for such a cool-running chip? You could've stuck with the stock cooler, which would've been cheaper (or free), just as quiet (or quieter) & most importantly would be a good 1-2" lower?

 

[Schtumple]

Any particular reason why you chose a (relatively expensive) tall HSF for such a cool-running chip? You could've stuck with the stock cooler, which would've been cheaper (or free), just as quiet (or quieter) & most importantly would be a good 1-2" lower?

The old CPU cooler I was a mega dust magnet and blocked alot of airflow, I also didn't realise the cooler would be so huge, everything still fits in the same case size as is, so I'm happy with it. EDIT: it was £13 btw, hardly expensive...

Is your father that lazy?

Not lazy, just, he's got 2 episodes of Smallville on download, that's generally more important.

Or just threaten to call child services and tell them he abuses you.

I'm 19, don't think that would work...

 

[RedTomato]

About not getting the front done, why let that stop you?

You can always get the holes done later. Put on the plain alu front, and get started on sorting out the software issues and start using the damn thing.

If you can't use the plain alu front for some reason, bodge up something else, and get the system up and running.

Computer tech always advances, and if you let it sit there for months, you'll end up throwing it out as outdated tech.

Use it now, get your money's worth. Am sure by the time you've sorted out the software issues, and how to fit the machine into your daily life, something will come up.

 

[Schtumple]

true I guess, I'd have to use it without a front , there's not much else I can have for the front really, I'll cut down the motherboard holder later and attempt to find our rivet gun and get it (basically) running later.

Bare in mind, I wanted to finish this project once I got my new tv, which I doubt will be this month

 

[RedTomato]

true I guess, I'd have to use it without a front , there's not much else I can have for the front really

Just a suggestion, but how about using a nice piece of wood, and drilling some holes in that, and a quick sand-down? That'd give you a pretty unique look.

Whatever you can find would do.

If i had the luxury of having a choice, I'd go for solid wood, not chipboard or veener, and something in either a light (beech or birch) or dark colour (oak or rubberwood) depending on your taste.

Laminated floorboard might be a suitable thickness, and it's easy to drill and shape.