[Jorunn]

Hi,

I decided to put that 25 year old case (6 - large bays, 5 - small, 24" tall), to use. I stripped it down (everything), cleaned it, sanded, and paint. I am getting most of my stuff from a store, but I am always looking for used stuff.

1. I got a Corsair CX500 ($65) power supply, really cool look and all, mounted real easy. Then my first problem, the mail power jack for the motherboard didn't fit the used motherboard.

2 I was checking out the clearance center of my favorite computer store, found a Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 mother board $100). Since my present computer is old, I don't care what kind of CPU I put in.

3. Expensive! ($170) I selected an i3 2125, it has 3.3GHz which I thought was a fair speed.

4. Found some Patriot 2x2 DDR3 1333MHz ($25), again I thought was a fair speed.

5. A used 320G hard drive ($55) that takes the SATA connections.

6. Since my DVD drive where out fast, I got a new one for $32 bucks

That stuff went well, now I run in to the difficult stuff. The front face of the case I am making from 1/4" plywood. Trying to remember stuff I took out (a long time ago), and what I like to have. The mother board has 4 USB on the back, but I want a bunch on the front. I still need to figure out the on/off switch. Oh yeah, the status lights, power, power on, HDD working, etc.…

So, I guess first need for help is, what am I going to put on the front panel. I like to have USB’s, maybe a fan controller, the power switches and lights?

What’s you suggestions and advice?

I could take pictures if needed.

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Hi Jorunn and

You can always add a USB hub and fan controllers through the drive bays. Power will be the problem you need to address because a 25 year old case was surely built on the AT Form Factor standard, and not the ATX Form Factor standard used today. With AT FF, the power switch connected to a harness that ran straight back to the AT power supply. With ATX, the power switch runs to the motherboard, which then signals the ATX PSU to start up.

What I have seen some folks do is use the case's front panel reset button as the new power button.

[Digerati]

Hi Jorunn and

You can always add a USB hub and fan controllers through the drive bays. Power will be the problem you need to address because a 25 year old case was surely built on the AT Form Factor standard, and not the ATX Form Factor standard used today. With AT FF, the power switch connected to a harness that ran straight back to the AT power supply. With ATX, the power switch runs to the motherboard, which then signals the ATX PSU to start up.

What I have seen some folks do is use the case's front panel reset button as the new power button.

[Jorunn]

Right oh, on the power supply, first thing I did was to get the 500 watt. The form factor was a good one, I had to remount 2 screw post to make it support correctly.

The USB hub, are you talking about something like this? http://www.memoryexp...Products/MX1488

The fan controller I am not going to start with till I decide on the number of fans. I am thinking of maybe 3 case fans, one over the MB, one near the PS, and one more to keep the flow going.

The switch, for this new Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3, what exactly does the switch do? Like, is current goin thru it all the time, or you push, it sends current, let go and it stops sending. Can I use a toggle switch.

Oops, lunch over, catch you later.

[Alysher]

the power switch used for motherboards these days are the type that when you press the button it connects current long enough to start the computer. holding said button down for 4 seconds turns the power off(this is a setting in most BIOS can be changed to instant off) constant power would keep your computer off or set it into a continuous reboot cycle.

now if im understaning your posts your saying that the plug for the power supply(the Corsair CX500) wont fit into the power plug of the used motherboard(the Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3). is this statement correct?

[Digerati]

Yes on the hub. As for fan controllers in front, I never saw a use for them. If you buy quality and large (120mm or larger) fans, they can run at full speed and still be almost, if not totally imperceptible - in terms of noise.

The switch, for this new Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3, what exactly does the switch do? Like, is current goin thru it all the time, or you push, it sends current, let go and it stops sending. Can I use a toggle switch.

No, not like a toggle switch at all. The front panel switch does nothing but short two pins on the motherboard. The pins are tied to a "momentary" circuit of +5Vsb standby voltage supplied by ATX Form Factor PSUs whenever they are plugged into the wall, and if equipped, the master power switch on back is set to on.

When you push the button (short the two motherboard pins) it signals the PSU to fully power up. Being a momentary circuit, holding down the button (same as flipping the toggle) does nothing. Pushing it again signals the PSU to shut down - though often after a 4 second delay as determined by the BIOS Setup Menu. So it is more like a doorbell button than a toggle or light switch.

[Jorunn]

now if im understaning your posts your saying that the plug for the power supply(the Corsair CX500) wont fit into the power plug of the used motherboard(the Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3). is this statement correct?

When I bought the power supply the 24 pin did not fit the old MB I had. The old one had less pins, I though that was rather odd.

[Jorunn]

There is SOOO MMANNYYYYYY smart people here!!. I have some old computer switches lying around that do that. For 2 summers I would pick up anything I could find in the trash, and salvage different parts. The switch gives me good ideas for a button cover.

I was thinking about the fan control for symmetry in appearance, kind of a techno look.
The fans them self, without a controller, how many can I plug in? How do I plug in more?

The computer I am using now is in a dirty environment, and my cats like to mill around it. I put an extra fan in it, just so happened, over top the CPU fan. It made a big difference on my yearly cleaning!

That is why I am thinking of fans, and this old thing is big, so one or two might not cut it.
I am thinking three fans would balance the air flow well.

[Digerati]

Most power supply 24-pin power connectors are really a 20-pin plus a 4-pin connector that can be broken away to support 20-pin motherboard connectors.

Note that it is every computer user's responsibility to regularly inspect and clean the interior of heat trapping dust, dirt, hair and dander. I recommend inspecting monthly and cleaning as necessary.

Note too that cats are the worse! Their hair and dander is very oily and thus sticks to everything - like heatsinks that need to be clean. The cat hair and dander mixes with the dust to create a very difficult to remove layer of heat trapping crud. An extra fan helps draw in more cool air, but also sucks in more cat hair and dust.

[Jorunn]

I think I will in crease my cleaning like you said!!.

Well it's pay day tomorrow, so I will spend the weekend makeing a new front panel (from 1/4" plywood), and installing some kind of switch and USB hub. Next week when I come back on, I need info on the status lights. Maybe I can get a picture of it, to keep thing intresting.

My big hobby is wood, I like to apply wood ..to all this ...some how ( slowly drift off to sleep dreaming of a wood computer case)

[Troy]

Sounds very interesting, it's always fun to do something a bit different. I'd love to see some pictures if you have any to upload.

[Jorunn]

Here is a few pictures. I don't know yet how this site will handle the pic's, so I will just describe a bit in general.
There is a pic of the MB Type, I am kind da proud of that.
[attachment=56002:My mother board.jpg]
The old case has a cool feature, the MB mounts on a removeable tray.
[attachment=56003:slide out MB tray.jpg]
[attachment=56004:slide out MB tray 2.jpg]
The front is very roomy I think.
[attachment=56005:front.jpg]
This the whole thing.
[attachment=56006:Whole thing.jpg]
There is 3 things of intrest in this pic. The PC i am building. The desk top, well the whole desk, I made it. Best thing, is my massive 32" plasma monitor!

[Jorunn]

I purchased a USB front panel, I have to say, all those wires is frieghting.


I purchased a USB front panel, I have to say, all those wires is freighting.

This is the unit I bought
[attachment=56013:Front panel.jpg]

Here is all the wires. So many! Where do they all go?
[attachment=56012:Wires three.jpg]

Any advice on this, or is it much simpler then I think?

[Troy]

The motherboard manual will tell you exactly where they all go, it's not too difficult.

BTW That case is HUGE!

[Jorunn]

I did it, I did it!

The picture in that little manual is very small, but I figured it out. I just to wire left, the red one, which I am pretty sure I will never use, and I think it is a different type of audio jack. If I understood it right, it has like I have 4 interface types for audio, I chooses the HD cable.

I cut a piece of plywood for the face and 3 hole for the drives switchs, I didn't like it

I am going to shop around for that plastic diamond plate steel stuff. I was thinking I can use a angle bracket material for the corners. Kind da give it a industrial look

Any suggestion?

PLEASE EVERYONE GIVE SUGGESTIONS, I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET.

For the on/off switch I was thinking a old fashion horn button.

[Jorunn]

It's been difficult trying to find a nice material to make the front with. I went back to my plywood and useing better tools, is beinging to take shape. I am makeing the drive and front panels stick thru the plywood a bit so I can put a trim around it. That way the pour cutting is coverd.

[attachment=56056:Plywood front.jpg]

I really would like to put more than one system fan in, but my local parts store doen't have anything nice.

While looking thru my salvage computer junk I came across a dual USB socket. I managed to add that to my front to give a total of 6 USB ports and 4 in back.

The new port front I bought had the jacks label, the old one did not. Thanks to the bit of incouragement I have recieved I easly figured it out. The white jack on the right is the old one.

[attachment=56057:All the USB jacks.jpg]

I tied up the extra cables and stuffed them out of the way, to make circulation around the MoBo free.

[attachment=56058:Tied up wires.jpg]

Well, that's it for now. I need to figure out how to add more than one fan and install some light indicators.