Hi all
I was originally thinking of building my case from wood, as I haven't got any experience with acrylic but having looked at it a bit more, it seems it probably won't be any cheaper or easier and will be a lot heavier with wood, so I'm planning to use acrylic/aluminium/polycarbonate now. I'd appreciate any advice from some experienced modders as it's all very new to me!
I want a split level case, with the PSU, HDDs and DVDs on the lower level and the motherboard on the upper level. I originally thought of having the whole case transparent but now think I'd prefer the lower, more messy level, to be hidden (I think it might need to be aluminium for strength anyway) with just the upper level on display. I've knocked up a couple of sketches in Sketchup. I've probably had to re-start them about 50 times because I keep realising I need it to be bigger and can't work out how to extend it, so it's actually taken me a long while just to get to these rough outlines!
I recently dismantled an old case so plan to use the rear panel and motherboard base from that. I actually shouldn't have removed the rivets joining those two parts as now I have to rivet them back together but that will still be quicker and easier than trying to mark out the holes for the motherboard supports and secure the rear panel to the acrylic (not to mention more stable). Once joined, I plan to screw the motherboard tray to the acrylic and have another piece at the rear on the outside, which will be screwed to the base and help support the metal rear panel.
This is the lower level. I haven't decided on the air vents for it yet. I could have the one on the left panel (passive) just for the PSU (Antec CP-850) or it could supply air for the HDDs as well, drawn over them by a fan on the rear panel. Otherwise, I could move the rear vent to behind the left HDD and have another vent on the right panel, with one a passive intake and the other a fan exhaust. The white strip on the right of the PSU is meant to be a right angle strip, which I intend to put on both sides to stop the PSU shifting and putting strain on the screws attaching it to the rear panel.
However, I was also thinking it would probably be a good idea to have some handholds on the sides of the lower level, to make it easier to lift and move the thing safely. I'm not sure if it was made of poly or acrylic whether this would be strong enough to bear the weight or if the screws joining the side panels to the base and uprights might crack through, which is the main reason I'm thinking of using aluminium for the lower level now. I'd also have to seal off the handholds on the inside (with a plastic box over them internally for instance) as otherwise air/dust will get in. I could of course just screw handles to the outside but they'll stick out, requiring a wider space for the PC and also looking a bit naff, unless I can find/make some funky looking ones.
If I did this, there wouldn't be room for air vents on the sides, so I'd put two (passive) intakes on the front with a divider between them as shown below, one feeding the PSU fan and the other feeding the fan on the rear panel, drawing air over the HDDs.
I might yet decide to put one HDD above the other, which would let me reduce the width of the case a bit. I generally don't like doing this as then the heat rises from the bottom one and makes the top one run hotter but it's probably not sufficient to worry about, just seems a bit unfair on the top drive
After a while (doh!), I realised that to be able to secure the upper level to the lower level posts, I'd need to move everything on the upper level in a bit, thus leaving an edge outside the uprights which would rest on the lower uprights, allowing me to screw the upper level to them. To avoid this lip being left on show though, I'd need to use some spacers attached to the upper level uprights, so that the side panels can line up with the outside edge of the case but still be screwed to the uprights.
The 111mm protrusion on the front panel (furthest away in this picture) is for a 5.25" USB,SATA,Audio bay. I did think of putting it on the lower level but figured as it's plugged into the motherboard it makes more sense to keep it with that so that I don't have to unplug all the leads when separating the two levels. The bay is not actually this deep but I have to allow for the cables, which I will bend and run under the bottom of the upper level and then bring back up at the edge of the board where the connectors are. I also had to move the motherboard over so that it's 24-pin power connector isn't obstructed by the bay's cables.
There'll be a passive 120mm intake on the front panel, above the bay, feeding the fan on my TRUE rev.c and a matching 120mm exhaust fan on the rear panel. On the left panel (right in above picture), there'll be at least one passive intake feeding the fans on my graphics card's Accelero Extreme Plus II http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vg...ii.html?c=2182. All intakes will be filtered of course.
I want both side panels (maybe front as well) on both levels to be removable for ease of access, so I plan to screw those to the uprights and maybe into the 5mm thick base as well. I've also been thinking about having the sides and front panels all joined so that they all come off as one. For any power switches, etc I could have these attached to a small piece of wood/acrylic joined to the base, with the front panel lying over this, with the buttons/lights showing through.
For the upright supports, I could use acrylic rods like these http://sheetplastics.co.uk/Acrylic_r...r_square_bar10 assuming they're available in suitable sizes (I think 10mm is too small to properly support the upper level) but if not, I can use wood. I'm not sure if they'd be rigid enough just screwed into the base (from underneath) though, or if I'd need to make some right angle pieces to attach the uprights to two edges and if so, whether they could be fairly low, as shown below, or if they'd need to be much higher.
Would 5mm thick aluminium/acrylic be suitable for the bases of the lower and upper levels? Obviously the lower level has to support the weight of both levels, whilst the upper level has much less to support.
I'm open to using whichever materials are most appropriate and easiest to work with and cheapest. I don't have any experience with any of these materials though and will probably need to buy some tools (I only really have access to a jigsaw, handsaws and a drill at the moment), so I need to bear that in mind and if I'd have to spend a lot on different tools for each material, it will probably get too expensive but as I'm not using any curved edges, I should be able to get all the panels cut to size at least, so mostly I'll just need to be drilling screw holes and fan/drive/switch holes.