Introduction: Toolbox PC

This project was made in order to make a portable low end gaming desktop that I could carry with me to LAN parties. All the parts were sourced secondly hand from thrift stores or friends. This solution was immaculate because it only cost me about $30 to make, which is way cheaper than trying to buy a high stop laptop computer and way easier than lugging around my heavy, expensive desktop.

Supplies

  • Materials
    • a cheap plastic toolbox
    • desktop computer hardware
      • Ram
      • Motherboard with Io shield
      • Processor
      • intemperate parkway
    • a singular 140mm lover
    • power provision
    • power release
    • motherboard standoffs
    • postcode ties
  • Tools
    • Recitation
    • Dremel (if you have IT)
    • Snips
    • Power saw or Knife

Step 1: Motherboard Mounting

The first thing I had to execute was take some measurements and quiz all the second hand hardware to make a point information technology worked. The mother board booted just, I kept acquiring the assonant error message (Verifying DMI pool data). I tried all the troubleshooting steps, and could not get wise to boot to any OS. Since I have another ATX motherboard that has the same dimensions, I will replace it with that when I get the chance.

The beginning thing I decided to put into the tool chest was the mother board. I measured the IO and cut a hole by drilling quaternary holes and using snips and brute force to knock the desired subdivision outer. I cut the hole a undersized tiny in order and used a file to get it to the exact dimension. This step of cutting the tool chest could be improved by victimization a Dremel which would Be much quicker. I then trained wholes through the fanny of the toolbox in edict to mount the standoffs for the motherboard into the bottom. After the fuss instrument panel was in I test well the parts inside to get a improved idea of where to mount everything. I decided to put an intake fan right about the mother board as it fit perfectly in the space between the top of the toolbox when the motherboard was mounted. I recurrent the same steps as before to cut a gob to mount the devotee. Also when doing this I made sure there was room for the graphics placard to fit into the system with it ports allay handy. A better way to mount the nontextual matter carte du jour would be to get a PCI-E riser pipe and mount the artwork card flat. If you jazz this way, you could also fit all the hardware in a smaller boxwood making it more movable. The IO shield I used was a universal one that I 3-D printed and cut to size with a pair of snips. I then glued it to the side of the case using heatable mucilage.

Whole tone 2: Power Supply

The adjacent thing to tackle was mounting the tycoo supply. Since the intake fan was diametric of the power supply, I mount the power append so that its fan would act as an exhaust. I bed this isn't the best method, but I did non want to mount another devotee in the case American Samoa on that point was not genuinely a convenient location to commit one leave out for maybe happening top of the case which I wanted to avoid. I try true fir and marked off a spot for the power supply to go and tailor the hole as mentioned in the early step. I made sure to leave plenty of space for the power supply change over and for a cable to total out the back besides. The hole that was cut is taller than in the picture to allow air to leave the toolbox. I had to mount the power supply connected its face in order to arrive fit. Instead of trying to guess where the screws were going to go, I decided to gum the great power add into the bottom of the toolkit. I after mounting information technology, I did some cable management with zip ties and made sure the computer powered on.

Stride 3: SSD, Exponent Button, and First Powerfulness Up

The next step was to chassis out what kind of storage to utilize and where to mount it. I had the pick of either a 500GB SSD or a 2TB HDD. These were parts that I no longer needed after I upgraded my current desktop. I decided to attach to the SSD as information technology was light, small, and there was no chance of IT getting trampled from being moved around so much. I mounted it aside using some twofold sided tape to the low side of the palpebra. I so ran SATA and power up to it from the power supply and tucked the cables on the other incline of the power supply. I next wired up a power button and drilled a hole in the front of the type for the button to harmonise. I used hot glue to secure information technology in place.

The first power up with it in the sheath was a success! The computer whole caboodle precise well and since it seems the cheap power supply fan is on flooded blast all the time, it whole works wellspring as an exhaust fan (hopefully it doesn't kill the hardware). The toolbox shuts and latches nicely for only $9. For those interested here are the specs of the computer: gigabyte ma785gm-us2h motherboard, 4GB DDR2 RAM (maybe 1500mhz), GT 720 2GB graphics lineup, 1 140mm red fan, a 500 James Watt power append, and a 500GB SSD. The system should run live on gen titles and less graphically demanding games at playable frame rates, only as time goes along I trust to assign in bettor second hand parts.

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