Despite its obvious budget, the case with honor and dignity endured the change of three platforms, the transition to LSS, as well as the installation of a GTX285-class video card with minor surgical interventions. In the course of these events, requirements for the hull immediately began to emerge:
Before any “invention of the bicycle”, a review was made of “affordable” (in the Russian outback) cases for “enthusiasts”, with the requirements listed above. During the review, two interesting cases were singled out from the bulk: Antec Performance One P190 and 3Q T-001.
Antec Performance One P190 (General description, Assembly and testing). This case was interesting primarily for its quality of workmanship and exterior finish, as well as the ability to install two (!) Power supplies. But they said their word and its negative sides for me - the presence of a door, both declared power supplies were included in the package, and the total cost did not inspire enthusiasm - about $ 700 and excluding delivery.
3Q T-001 (Review). This body seemed interesting to me from the point of view of complete assembly and disassembly, apparently affected by a difficult childhood and a lack of iron toys. I didn’t play enough with the designer then, so I was drawn, but the real absence of this unit in retail trade put an end to this path of solving the problem.
In the age of computer technology, it is impossible to imagine life without a computer or any other multimedia gadget. Those who understand computer "hardware" assemble their own computers, giving them certain characteristics that they need to perform their tasks. Some modify their computers, so to speak, in their own shirt, and some go further and make system units in various variations. So the author decided to independently upgrade his system unit, giving it an exclusive, attractive and creative look.
For the basis of the system unit, the author used a wooden rounded square. This can be found in subwoofers. They are, of course, longer, but if you have a hacksaw for wood or a grinder attachment, it will not be difficult to reduce its size to the one you need.
the next step is to make a groove around the entire perimeter of the workpiece, into which the wall of the system unit will lie. To do this, you will need a chisel and a hammer. If the farm has a cutter, then things will go even faster, and the result will be much better.
A student with no experience in woodworking or computers made a computer case with his own hands. Of the tools he needed: a hammer and a chisel for wood, a jigsaw and a drill, and computer components. What came of it, see the step-by-step instructions in the photos.
You can make the same computer case yourself, here's what it looks like:
To start making the case, you will need a wooden frame measuring 420mm x 420mm.
Then you need to remove the edge for the side panels with a chisel and a hammer. The recess should be 5 mm by 15 mm.
Installing fans in the case. To prevent the fans from having friction that will create sound during operation, you need to cut down a fraction of the tree over and over again until the coolers fit snugly. The same method was used for the coolers on the bottom of the case.
Installation of controllers. The compartments were cut with a jigsaw and the slots were sanded with sandpaper. RGB LED controllers were installed in the case.
For the inner and outer walls of the case, aluminum sheets will be needed.
The next step is to install the power supply into the case. To do this, you need to cut a hole to attach the power supply to the back of the case.
Now you will need a 390x390x5mm black plexiglass, in which you need to cut the edges to fit the oval depressions on the wooden case.
Then the inner wall inside the case is attached. For this, metal corners, screws and washers were used.
Installing the ON / OFF button in the housing. A hole is drilled in the aluminum wall, and the edges are rubbed with a file, adjusting it to the correct size.
Installing an I/O panel that is held in the chassis opening only by a snug fit.
This is how wooden legs for the case are made, on such legs the computer will stand steadily.
The case is almost ready, all that remains is to try to install computer components correctly with your own hands so that your creative wooden computer not only pleases you with its beauty, but also works :)
All cables are hidden in the space between the walls of the case.
For a more spectacular look of a wooden case, you can install LEDs under glass.
Here is the end result - this is what a wooden case for a computer made by yourself at home looks like.
After acquiring a new computer or upgrading an old one, a situation often arises that the computer case itself no longer meets certain requirements. This includes the noise level, the installation of new parts or an additional power supply, cooling. And your old case does not fit all these innovations, or the temperature level rises simply to prohibitive limits. And you start looking for the most affordable solution to the problem: buying a new case or making it yourself, on your own. This article will consider an example of how to make a computer case with your own hands or improve it. If necessary, you can watch the video instructions for making the case, for example:
As you know, when choosing a computer case, you need to think not only about the appearance, although the original approach and non-standard solution are also important. First of all, you need to clearly understand that the case is an integral part of your PC, and not just a beautiful box on the table or under the table. The design of the hull must be approached with knowledge of the matter. First you need to find out what types and types of cases are, their differences and functionality.
To date, only four main types of PC cases are known. There are, of course, many extraordinary solutions, but more on that later. Each of these types has its good and not so good sides, so it is impossible to say unequivocally which one is the best. Just read their advantages and disadvantages so that you have something to rely on in your design. Or, if you decide that you can’t do it yourself, then the criteria will be clear to you by which you can buy a suitable high-quality case from the manufacturer.
There are vertical (tower) and horizontal (desktop) versions of cases. Vertical cases usually allow you to put more drives and all sorts of other devices, while horizontal cases are more compact.
This type of housing is distinguished by compact dimensions. It's especially handy for office PCs, or for home PCs if you don't need a particularly powerful system. The dimensions of such a case are very small (about 25x25 cm), which allows it to easily fit into any interior and take up a minimum of space. Such cases have a big minus, such miniaturization requires a suitable "stuffing", small sizes of parts. In such a case, it is no longer possible, for example, to insert a modern powerful video card or processor. In addition, small dimensions can cause cooling problems, components can overheat, causing system failures and breakdowns.
Such a case can already be used for a fairly powerful office PC, or for a home media center. Such cases, as a rule, are initially equipped with power supplies with a power of 400W or more. In such a case, you can assemble a good system with a dual-core processor, put a powerful video card, but many modern components for this option will have to be chosen on the basis of "mini". Another inconvenience is the need for monthly dusting.
This case type is the most popular and widespread. In such a case, you can easily place a good ventilation system, several powerful video cards, and put additional hard drives. This case is well suited for those who are not limited by the size of the system unit. This type of case is difficult to fit into the interior, but it provides good system performance and will satisfy the requirements of even avid gamers.
This case is very rare to find as a home PC. It is noticeably larger than all the others, and its height reaches at least half a meter. This case can accommodate not only about five good video cards or hard drives, it is suitable for creating servers or a computer that controls other computers in the office. Such a case allows you to place good ventilation in it, which will save the computer from the possibility of overheating. Thus, Big-Tower is ideal for the most advanced users who are engaged in the field of IT technologies and especially demanding gamers.
The first point to consider when selecting or designing a case is whether there is sufficient interior space. It is necessary to determine whether you can place devices there for the necessary cooling of the system unit, installation of fans. It is necessary that air circulate freely inside the case, thereby ensuring the cooling of all parts. Pay attention to the power of the power supply unit (PSU) located in the case or purchased separately. It should be sufficient for the planned PC system. You should also pay attention to the location of the power supply in the case. With high power PSUs, you need to think about its cooling. The PSU only needs to cool itself.
For optimal cooling and low noise, the PSU can be placed according to such schemes.
In the scheme, with the top location of the PSU, we get the following advantages:
Such a design can be assembled approximately as in the photo below.
SilverStonetek has launched the production of cases with a lower PSU location.
The advantages of this design are:
Among the shortcomings, it can be noted: excessive fan noise and difficult air access to the PSU fan.
The body material is mostly aluminum or steel, although many homemade cases are made from wood or Plexiglas. The advantages of the aluminum case include light weight and good heat dissipation. But such a body bends easily and scratches are not uncommon. The cost of aluminum cases is higher than steel ones. The steel case has greater reliability and durability. All parts in such a case will be reliably protected. In addition, steel dampens vibrations better, which reduces the noise of the computer.
When considering different case designs, it is important to first determine which connectors and interfaces you will need now and in the future. Many of the options, such as a thermometer built into the speakers, you do not need, but others simply need it. Here you need to decide for yourself which design and construction to choose, based on the above. And don't forget originality...
So you've decided to make a homemade computer case. This case should allow you to install any possible components in it, give them quick access and provide good cooling. Case options are already possible that provide: almost complete noiselessness, high performance, the possibility of increasing the computing potential, and ease of maintenance. True, such a case cannot be made compact.
The computer case can be made of wood using the technology below.
The diagram shows the location of the main components and the circulation of air flows.
Working drawings of such a building can be downloaded. http://www.easycom.com.ua/downloads/skvorechnik_001.zip
Or look at the picture below.
The computer case is assembled from six walls and one transverse shelf in the middle. The top of the case will house the motherboard, CPU fan, video adapters, and the bottom will house all drives, a floppy drive, a card reader, hard drives, and a power supply. It was decided to equip the lower part with only one 120x120x25 mm fan, since there will be only one element that needs forced ventilation - this is the power supply. In the upper part for normal cooling of video cards and a processor, at least three fans must be installed, with a size of 120x120x25 mm. They are ideally located on the front wall of the future case.
The choice of case material is determined by your capabilities. Plexiglas or acrylic at a cost is quite expensive. Iron sheets, from which it is theoretically possible to make the same hull, are unacceptable, as they will greatly increase the weight of the hull. Already with a sheet thickness of only 2 mm. The manufactured body is likely to exceed 40 kg. And besides, the metal is difficult to process and its cost is also not small.
In our version, chipboard will be used to make the case. These are sawdust pressed into sheets with dimensions of 2660x1660x16 mm (W.L.D.) and impregnated with special glue.
The body parts are marked according to the given drawings and cut out. There is nothing complicated in this, but you can order from those who are engaged in the manufacture of furniture. If you decide to cut the blanks yourself, then you will need the necessary tools: a jigsaw and wood saws.
You should get such blanks. Finish the edges well with sandpaper.
When all the blanks are made, you can begin to assemble the case itself. It is necessary to connect and fix the parts according to the drawings. A homemade computer case in a partially assembled case will look something like this.
For the reason that the front panel will be used not only as an "air intake", but on it there will be buttons for turning on, restarting the computer and all the main indicators (hard drives and the entire system), they must be embedded in a wooden panel. It is necessary to make holes for all ports, power and reset buttons, indication LEDs. Everything must be done carefully and strictly in size.
LEDs cannot work directly from the motherboard block, they must be connected to it in series with a resistance of 480-500 ohms and a dissipated power of 0.25 watts. All these parts can be bought at any radio store. Wires for connecting buttons and LEDs to the motherboard are soldered into the Q-Connector that comes with ASUS boards. Heat shrink is used as an insulating material. This is a tube made of a special material (polyvinyl chloride), which can change its geometric shape (diameter) when heated. In practice, a piece of such a tube is put on a wire, soldered to another, and the piece of tube is shifted to the place of soldering. After that, it is heated up a little with a lighter. After that, the tube narrows around the soldering point and forms a good insulation. Shrinkage ratio reaches up to 30%.
This means that if the diameter of the tube is 6 mm, then when heated, it will change its value to almost 4 mm. Such a tube can also be bought in any radio engineering stores, and the price is only 2-4 UAH per meter. With such an insulating material, it is desirable to carry out all work related to the installation of wires for the manufacture of this case.
Connectors for power input and output from the ~220 V mains and a backlit power switch are installed on the rear wall of the case.
You should pay special attention to the choice of fans for the case. They must meet aesthetic requirements, as they will always be in sight. After all, the front panel pays the most attention. You need to choose the quietest fans suitable for your performance. Therefore, options for the type of gratings "grill" immediately departed.
A Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern or similar fan is well suited for this solution. His choice was determined not only by technical characteristics, which many fans can envy. This fan operates at a speed of 1500 rpm and at the same time the noise level is not higher than 17 dB, which is characterized as extremely quiet. Another advantage is a kind of animated backlight.
However, you can choose a more "advanced" model from this series of fans, Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Logo Fan. In this model, as in the Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern, there are no various animated emblems, but the Thermaltake logo is “written”, the approximate temperature of the passing air is shown (built-in thermal sensor), and the relative noise level that the fan creates is also displayed.
All these fans are mounted on the front panel using wood screws in the following way:
To avoid the problem of bending the motherboard textolite, which occurs due to the rigid fastening of the cooler without a special pressure plate, you need to replace this pressure plate with something. You can choose a felt of the required thickness (about 7-8 mm) and cut out a square with dimensions slightly larger than the holes for mounting the cooler of the Socket LGA 775 processor socket. If you look at the height of the stand for mounting the motherboard, then the felt is 1-2 mm higher than it, which gives the necessary rigidity when bending the textolite of the parent stalemate. Felt can be bought at many hardware stores or "from hand" in the markets. The cost of such a piece will be approximately 5 to 20 UAH.
At the very end of the entire roughing of the case, it is necessary to make all the necessary holes in the motherboard shelf through which the power wires, cables of hard drives, disk drives, etc. will pass. First, you need to temporarily screw the motherboard into place and mark and sign all locations with a marker connectors. After that, with the help of an electric drill and a file, all these holes are made.
A self-made case for a computer on the outside of the case is easiest to paste over with self-adhesive. Such material is made of thick paper or a special rubberized oilcloth. The color scheme is limited only by your imagination or the assortment of the store (from pure white to various photo wallpapers). This self-adhesive is sold in rolls per linear meter. There are two types of roll width: 450 mm and 550 mm. The cost depends on the complexity of the pattern and width, and usually within 11 - 22 UAH per linear meter. For the manufacture of this case, a shiny black “self-adhesive” was chosen. After calculating according to the drawings, it was determined that five meters of “self-adhesive” would be needed to glue the entire body.
For processing cutouts, another material will be used, double-sided tape with a foam base.
It is necessary as a sealant in places where vibrating components (hard drives, drives) come into contact with the case walls. Foam rubber, from which strips 14-18 mm wide and 2 mm thick are made, is very soft in consistency and shrinks to 0.5 mm, having the ability to also spring. All this is very good for a compactor. The presence of an adhesive substance on both sides allows this seal to be firmly fixed, and individual components to be fixed with it.
It remains to make a "basket" for attaching all drives, hard drives, a floppy drive and a card reader. It is difficult and inconvenient to use a standard "basket", which is installed in serial cases, due to the non-standard arrangement of installed devices. You can use a piece of plexiglass 4 mm thick for these purposes. It will not need so much, somewhere a meter by a meter. The cutting of such material is carried out with a manual grinder or grinder. It is not difficult to make all these works. After that, it is necessary to drill the necessary holes in the blanks. Plexiglas is a rather fragile material, and sometimes crumbles if handled carelessly. To drill a hole with a diameter of 3.5 mm in it, you need to perform this operation in three or four passes, starting with a drill with a diameter of 1 mm, and finishing with 3.6 mm. You need to remember to drill out the "nest" for the bolt head to hide it. To do this, you need a drill of such a diameter as a hat. All drives, disk drives and a card reader are attached using the same double-sided tape seal.
To prevent hard drives from transmitting their vibration to the basket, thereby increasing the noise level, you can fix them with four erasers.
When all these operations are done, you can assemble the case. The assembled lower part of the case, with a “basket”, hard drives, drives, a card reader, a floppy drive and an installed power supply, looks something like this:
In a fully assembled form, this case will look like this:
A self-made case for a computer after testing the operation of the computer showed good indicators of temperature conditions. The cost of a homemade case turned out to be much lower than specialized Middle Tower or Full Tower cases. In order to make a computer case with your own hands, you only need certain skills in working with a soldering iron and a special tool.
Introduction
Modding (Englishmodding, comes from the word modify - modify, change) - makingcreativechanges inHardwarecomputer.
At least that's what Wikipedia thinks, however, for those "hardcore" desktop users who have at least once tried to make changes to "their offspring", modding has become something much more than simply "changing the appearance." Actually, for starters, you should try to find out the reasons why a modest user decides to make changes himself. There are two extremely interesting articles in the archive of our site: "Homemade cooling system for the Radeon HD 4850" and "Modding the case to improve ventilation and reduce noise". In both cases, the goal was the same: "creating efficient and quiet air cooling without significant investment" - and it is rather difficult to challenge it. After all, there are cases today when users simply cannot choose the case that suits them, for example, since its filling is already available and has been in operation for more than one month, but due to insufficient (and often incorrect) ventilation system of the “old” case this filling is heated to extreme temperatures, and the standard cooling systems of the hottest elements (processor, video card) begin to work at full capacity. As a result, this leads to the fact that a seemingly far from cheap system unit turns into a real “vacuum cleaner” with a corresponding roar of turbines. Opening the side cover of the case, although it saves the contents from overheating, however, reduces the entire aesthetic appearance to “NO”, not to mention the fact that a working case in this form is a hotbed of injury and increases the chances of losing expensive components due to careless movement or pranks of a young child .
Buying a specialized case, for example, Packard Bell ipower GZ-FA1CA-ASS, can solve this problem, but it’s not always possible to choose exactly what you want from what is offered in the store, and it’s a sin to hide, specialized cases are far from cheap and often their cost exceeds the price processor or video card. Such waste is not affordable for everyone. It is thanks to the combination of the above factors that modding cases are born, which are simply a refinement and / or modernization of existing cases with a design ventilation system. In addition, in this case, the author of such a manufactory building can, without hesitation, give his offspring a creative, in his opinion, appearance, which often amazes others with its individuality and originality. Vivid examples are the following creations, selected on a specialized Internet resource http://www.casemods.ru/:
The purpose of this article is to show in the form of a chronological story of one case that computer hardware modding is not something “abstruse”, accessible only to certified engineers and technicians, and to prove its promise, accessibility and, of course, simplicity with examples. Readers will be able to find solutions to problems that have faced them in the past. Moreover, all submitted changes will be accompanied by appropriate tests to evaluate the change in heating, performance and indirectly - the noise level. If possible, the funds spent on modernization will be indicated and where you can purchase the corresponding components in different cities. designed specifically for a specific computer configuration, a case with a set of necessary functions, or repeat the proposed one.
background
The list of components that will take part in the presented mod project was not formed immediately, but evolutionarily over four years. Initially (2004), the system unit had the following filling:
However, at that time it was planned to buy not so much a desktop computer as a whole complex of consumer electronics based on a personal computer, so the system unit additionally included: CD-ROM Sony CDU5261; DVD-RW Sony D22A; FLOPPY Sony MPF920-Z/CU1; HDD Seagate ST3200822AS; TV-TUNER AverMedia 305; SOUND CARD Creative Audigy 2 ZS. The case itself was 3R System - Neon Light PRE. The monitor and speaker set were matching: LG 920P and Creative Inspire TD 7700.
After the purchase, the question was raised more and more often: “Was this multimedia complex worth the crazy costs spent on its acquisition, maybe something was chosen incorrectly?”. The performance of the video adapter was naturally not enough, since a professional-level monitor could work at a resolution of 1600 * 1200 with a screen refresh rate of 85 Hz, and popular games at that time (for example, DOOM 3) made quite serious demands on the contents of the system unit (especially on the video card) even by modern standards. The dream of "the very best" was melting before our eyes. Over time, a lot of reviews of computer components were re-read and, unfortunately, not very carefully. In 2007, an upgrade was made (replacement of some components with more efficient ones).
The video adapter was replaced by an extremely promising (just started on sale) ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M, which was nothing more than a "reference" PNY GeForce 8800 GTS 512, only with ASUS stickers. Due to the increased requirements for system power consumption, the 300-watt Dinamic standard ATX 1.3 power supply included with the case was replaced with PowerLux PL-550PFC-DF . Alas, 2007 marked a massive transition from single-core to dual-core processors. Naturally, most games were originally developed for dual-core processors, and the Intel Pentium 4 540j used in the system was simply not able to provide the required level of performance. Even the addition of RAM to 3 GB did not save one more bar with a capacity of 1024 MB and two 512 MB. The situation looked exactly in such a way that "the money was spent extremely illiterately." Since the spring of 2008, probably more because of necessity than “at will”, all articles and reviews on the respective sites have been extremely corrosively re-read. It was at that time that for the first time I had to “get acquainted” with the site www.EasyCOM.com.ua, which struck me with its scale and number of reviews. Each motherboard, video card, processor and other components that were on sale were described in detail, as if it were an exclusive and unique "new". Comparative dynamic testing of processors and video cards with similar models, regardless of class, generation or price range, was especially useful. By the summer of 2008, it was decided without haste, to systematically create an extremely non-standard system that would not cost crazy money, assuming the use of the maximum number of currently available components in it, but had such computing power that would meet modern requirements and have a "reserve for the future" . The orientation of such a system was purely for gaming, watching video content and listening to audio. The only rational solution to this problem was the creation of an SLI system based on a specialized motherboard and a quad-core processor. That is, to increase the computing power of the video system, it was decided not to change the video card, but to supplement the computer with another one of the same (according to the principle of organizing SLI systems). Since at that time it was not necessary to have special finances, and the time of popularity of the GeForce 8800GTS 512 was coming to an end, and there was no point in waiting, since six months later it was possible not to find ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M on sale, it was decided First of all, buy a second video card without having an appropriate motherboard. By the beginning of 2009, an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor and two RAM sticks OCZ Titanium OCZ2T800IO1G had already been bought, it only remained to choose a motherboard. As it turned out, at that time the raging financial crisis completely swept away all the new items from the store shelves, and the choice of an SLI-compatible motherboard (which was already a rarity) became an extremely difficult task. By and large, the choice was only between ASUS P5N-T Deluxe and ASUS P5N-D. Naturally, ASUS P5N-T Deluxe had an order of magnitude better features than the second option. Take at least the processor power supply system, because it will be used exactly the quad-core Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, famous for its high power consumption and heating. However, the case ordered itself. While the decision was being made, the ASUS P5N-T Deluxe motherboard simply disappeared from the stores. There is only one version of ASUS P5N-D left.
Because the motherboard ASUS P5N-D was produced by the manufacturer in a rather limited quantity, it did not get tested in a timely manner, so I want to talk about it at least in a nutshell now. It is based on the NVIDIA nForce 750i SPP + NVIDIA nForce 750i MCP + NVIDIA nForce 200 system logic. The motherboard has two PCI-E x16 v2.0 slots that can work simultaneously in full x16 + x16 mode. The latter, in fact, is the "highlight" of this board, since the NVIDIA nForce 750i SPP northbridge has only 16 PCIe lanes, and to implement support for full-speed two PCI-E x16 v2.0 ports, you need 32 of them. So, an additional NVIDIA nForce 200 chip is able to expand the number of PCIe lanes and speed up the transfer of information between video cards, not passing it through the chipset and processor, but directing it to its destination immediately. More detailed information about the NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI chipset can be found by looking at the following diagram:
The board also has two PCI v2.2 slots, one PCI-E x1, four DIMM slots with support for DDR2 memory with a frequency of 800/677/533 MHz. The set of ports on the board for peripheral I / O devices is calculated as one IDE for two devices, one Floppy connector, four SATA ports, two USB headers for four ports, one IEEE 1394a port, an S / PDIF output connector. The board has a 24-pin power connector and a four-pin ATX12V connector for additional processor power. In the corner there are sockets for connecting the front panel, headphones, microphone. The interface panel provides four USB ports, one IEEE 1394a, six audio codec I/Os, one optical audio output, one coaxial audio output, network LAN (RJ45), two PS/2 for connecting a mouse and keyboard, and one each serial and parallel ports. The number of fans connected to the motherboard is limited to four, including the four-pin processor.
ASUS engineers approached the location of the elements of the P5N-D motherboard quite boldly. Despite the fact that the ATX standard provides for up to seven expansion slots on the motherboard, in the case of ASUS P5N-D there were only six of them, thus the distance from the processor socket to the first expansion slot was increased by 22 mm. This was quite enough to accommodate the chips of the NVIDIA nForce 750i SPP northbridge and the so-called NVIDIA nForce 200 eastbridge. Taking into account their heat dissipation, they were covered with a massive heatsink.
For more efficient heat dissipation, a fan was supplied with the motherboard.
The dimensions of such a "dwarf" are 70x70x10 mm. (L.Sh.V.), and the speed of rotation of the impeller when powered by 12 V is 3800 rpm. In practice, this is a rather noisy "creation", however, the BOIS options allow the latter to be used in three modes that correspond to the 3800; 3000; 2600 rpm
More detailed information about the configuration and characteristics can be "drawn" from the corresponding table, or from the official website:
ASUS P5N-D motherboard specification:
|
Manufacturer |
|
|
NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI |
|
|
Processor socket |
|
|
Supported processors |
Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo / Pentium Extreme / Pentium D / Pentium 4 |
|
System bus, MHz |
1333/1066/800/667 MHz |
|
Used memory |
DDR2 800/667/533 MHz |
|
Memory support |
4 x 240-pin dual-channel DIMMs up to 8 GB |
|
Expansion slots |
2 x PCI-E x16 with NVIDIA SLI support |
|
Scalable Link Interface (SLI™) |
Supports two identical NVIDIA SLI-Ready graphics cards in x16 mode |
|
Disk subsystem |
The nForce 550 SLI Southbridge supports: |
|
Controller VIA VT6038P |
|
|
Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit LAN Controller with AI NET 2 Support |
|
|
24-pin ATX power connector |
|
|
Cooling |
A massive heatsink for cooling the NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI northbridge and NVIDIA nForce 200 PCI-E expansion chip with a complete fan, as well as a branded heatsink for cooling the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI southbridge |
|
Fan Connectors |
1 x CPU |
|
External I/O ports |
2 x PS/2 port for connecting keyboard and mouse |
|
Internal I/O ports |
4 x USB |
|
8 Mb Flash ROM, Award BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, Multi-language BIOS |
|
|
Overclocking options |
Frequency change: FSB, PCI-Express, memory. |
|
Proprietary technologies |
ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit) |
|
Equipment |
Instruction and user manual |
|
Form factor Dimensions, mm |
ATX 12" x 9.6" |
|
Products webpage |
A few words should be given to the processor power system. It was made according to a four-phase scheme, however, it should be understood that "the phases are different." Here, for example, what similar power systems look like:
The photo on the left shows the ASUS P5Q SE motherboard, which also has a four-phase power system, however, it should be noted that the number of power transistors in one phase arm is two. The GIGABYTE GA-EP41-UD3L motherboard (pictured in the middle) again has a four-phase power system, but the number of power transistors on the shoulder is no longer two, but three. Well, the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3 motherboard located in the photo on the right has a six-phase power supply system, but, as in the previous case, the number of power transistors on the shoulder is three. The fact is that the number of power transistors in one "phase" and the total number of phases in the processor power system is directly proportional to the maximum power that this power system can "give out". And if the consumer (processor) consumes such power that will border on the maximum possible that the processor power system is able to provide, then the latter will, at best, get very hot, which will undoubtedly affect the life of both the motherboard and the processor . ASUS engineers acted "smarter". The number of phases, although limited to four, was installed on each shoulder four power transistors, which indicates a predisposition to serious loads. It is extremely difficult to evaluate the ASUS P5N-D motherboard power system more accurately, but it is assumed that it is designed for powerful quad-core processors with some margin, and in fact, this margin can, in theory, be implemented to ensure the increased power consumption of an overclocked quad-core processor. On "how much" overclocked - practice will show.
There is also no need to talk much about the functionality of the BIOS. Overclocking capabilities (which are mostly interesting) are limited to changing the frequency of the FSB reference bus from 133 to 750 MHz (although this parameter is represented not by the usual FSB, but by QDR, that is, FSB x 4), PCI-E buses from 100 MHz to 131 MHz, frequencies memory operation from 400 MHz to 2600 MHz, changing the multiplier of the HT bus connecting the north bridge and the south bridge from x1 to x8, as well as changing the timings of the RAM, both primary and secondary. You can change the supply voltage on the following elements: processor from 0.83125 V to 1.6 V; RAM from 1.85 V to 3.11 V; northbridge NVIDIA nForce 750i SPP from 1.2 V to 1.76 V; southbridge NVIDIA nForce 750i MCP from 1.5 V to 1.86 V; HT bus from 1.2 V to 1.96 V.
Summing up a cursory review of the ASUS P5N-D motherboard, we can draw a brief but clear conclusion. This motherboard has everything you need to build a high-performance SLI-system with a full connection of two video adapters according to the x16 + x16 scheme and using the most powerful processors of the Intel Core 2 Quad family. Nevertheless, despite almost flagship features, ASUS P5N-D has "nothing superfluous", that is, the number of additional expansion controllers is minimal, advanced ASUS technologies are not fully applied, and the number of additional heatsinks is reduced to a minimum. All this, of course, was reflected in the final cost of the product. The motherboard was purchased in February 2009 at a price of UAH 1200, which looked extremely promising compared to the price of ASUS P5N-T Deluxe, which was estimated at UAH 1800. As for the overclocking potential, there was no reliable information on the Internet at the time of purchase, we could only hope for “maybe”.
In principle, the system was already assembled, with the exception of the processor cooler. With applicants for this "position" the situation turned out to be more deplorable than with motherboards. And the budget allocated for updating the computer has simply dried up. Purchased was the following solution.
Unlike the Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern, this model does not show various animated emblems, but "writes" the Thermaltake logo, shows the approximate temperature of the air passing through the fan (there is a built-in thermal sensor), as well as the relative noise level generated by the fan. In practice, it looks like this:
It would be hard to resist the temptation to see this "miracle" on the front panel of the body of our own production. Despite being somewhat expensive, I purchased three Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Logo Fan Pattern fans and one Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern fan for variety. As you might guess, three of them will blow air into the upper part of the case, where the motherboard and video cards are located, as well as a processor cooler, and one into the lower part of the case, where there is only one element that needs to be blown - the power supply.
Mounted on the front panel using wood screws, the Thermaltake fans looked like this:
When marking the shelves for the motherboard under the mounting racks, I remembered a rather “acute” problem that many people have. This refers to the bending of the textolite of the motherboard due to the rigid fastening of the cooler without a pressure plate on the back of the processor socket. The solution looked like a self-made analogue of the pressure plate. Having picked up the felt of the required thickness (about 7-8 mm), I cut out a square a little larger than the cooler mounting holes for the Socket LGA 775 processor socket.
Taking into account the height of the motherboard mounting stand of 6 mm, the felt was 1-2 mm higher, just this difference gave the necessary rigidity when the textolite of the motherboard was deformed. You can buy felt either in specialized construction stores or "from hand" in spontaneous markets. The price of such a piece can be from 5 to 30 UAH.
The last stage of roughing the future case was the organization of the necessary holes in the motherboard shelf for mounting power wires, hard drive cables, a drive, etc.
Having temporarily screwed the motherboard into place, the locations and type of connectors were simply signed with a marker. Then, with the help of an electric drill and a file, these technological holes appeared. Their dimensions were so small that only the appropriate plugs could fit into them. Conventionally, the upper and lower parts of the case should be separated from each other almost hermetically to achieve more efficient airflow in the upper part of the case, where the hottest elements are located.
Coming close to giving the case an aesthetic appearance, the question arose: “How, in fact?”. After much deliberation and comparison of the amount of investment, the following two materials were recognized as the most profitable.
Elementary "self-adhesive". An analogue of what walls in apartments are pasted over during repairs, that is, wallpapers that have an adhesive substance applied on one side. This type of material is made of thick paper or a kind of rubberized oilcloth. The color scheme is limited by purely human imagination or the availability of an assortment in the store: from pure white to photo wallpaper. Such “happiness” is sold in rolls per linear meter. There are two types of rolls in width: 450 mm and 550 mm. The price varies from the complexity of the pattern and the width of the roll in the range from 11 UAH to 22 UAH per linear meter. In our case, a black self-adhesive with the effect of a shiny varnish was chosen. Moreover, it had a base with an extruded wood structure. Having carried out a simple calculation, it turned out that five meters of “self-adhesive” are needed to glue the entire future building.
The second material is called double sided foam tape.
The purpose of its application was the use of a sealant at the points of contact of vibrating computer components (drives, hard drives) with the walls of the case, as well as between the walls of the case. The photo above shows that they sealed the “windows” of the front panel into which the drives will be installed. According to its consistency, foam rubber, from which strips 12-18 mm wide and 2 mm thick are made, is very soft and can be compressed up to 0.5 mm, while also springing. A more suitable seal simply could not be found. The presence of a sticky and viscous substance on both sides made it possible to firmly fix this seal, and in some cases even use it to fasten computer components.
As a result, the disassembled appearance of the Birdhouse 001 case was as follows:
Compared to the original form of chipboard, this interpretation still looked much better. Black lacquered wood mixed with chrome grills and acrylic (transparent) fan covers looked solid. It was then that another “brilliant” element of the body was born, the lining on the ends of the side walls:
In fact, this is a “P” shaped profile for finishing the end edges of chipboard, which is quite widely used in the manufacture of furniture and can be plastic or aluminum. In our case, it was plastic, the color "chrome mirror" that was used. Sold by rails 2.5 m long, at a price of 22-25 UAH per piece. Two such strips are quite enough to finish both side walls of the case.
So, before the start of the assembly, there was one step left - a “basket” for attaching hard drives, drives, a floppy drive and a card reader. The use of a standard "basket", which is used in serial cases, is impossible due to the non-standard arrangement of the above devices. The output turned out to be as simple as non-standard:
By pure chance, a modest piece of plexiglass 4 mm thick and about a meter by a meter in size turned out to be available. The appearance of this piece did not allow it to be used "in plain sight", however, for the source material of the "basket" there is simply no better option.
The cutting of this material was carried out with a manual angle grinder or grinder. This procedure did not cause any particular difficulties and will be within the power of any person who has sufficient patience and caution. It remains only to drill the necessary holes and that's it.
Although plexiglass has some elasticity, it simply crumbles if handled carelessly. In order to drill a hole in it with a diameter of 3.5 mm, it is necessary to do this in three or four passes, starting with a drill with a diameter of 1 mm and ending with 3.6 mm. Since I will use 3 x 8 mm bolts with a hidden head to fasten the “basket” elements, it is necessary to create a kind of “nest” for the bolt head after drilling the hole. This is done with a drill of the same diameter as the cap. In our case, 6 mm. As a result, the parts ready for assembly looked like this:
Since the case is planned to be as quiet as possible, the same sealant made of double-sided foam rubber tape was used to mount drives, a disk drive and a card reader.
Since drives, a disk drive and a card reader are a structural part of the "basket", their fastening must be rigid and durable.
As many guessed, hard drives will have to be mounted, by and large, in a 5.25" bay (for drives), and the hard drives themselves are 3.5" in size. A way out of this situation was found not only in terms of structural docking, but also in terms of sound insulation. Hard drives "tightly" screwed to the "basket" will transmit their vibration to the latter, and this is an extra source of noise. To eliminate it, a simple and at the same time tricky method is proposed, for which four erasers are needed, with which everyone at school or universities erased pencil graphite from a sheet.
The latter are sold in stationery stores in different shapes, colors and even smells at prices ranging from 50 kopecks to 4 hryvnias apiece. It remains only to choose the right size and perform the following operations:
Cut into pieces of the desired size, drill a hole along and screw in halfway on one side with a 3 x 8 mm hairpin. The latter is obtained from the bolt that attached the drives, you just need to bite off the hat with pliers. When mounted with a hard drive, it looks like this:
Further, everything is simple, by installing an upgraded hard drive in a 5.25 "bay, it is bolted, like a drive. The uniqueness of the sound insulation lies in the fact that there is no rigid mount, and all vibrations will be absorbed by the same erasers.
Well, now everything is ready, it's time to assemble the case. The installation of the lower part of the case, where the “basket” with drives, hard drives, a floppy drive, a card reader and a power supply are located, looked like this:
As planned, the power supply was dismantled and switched to conditionally passive cooling mode. Although in fact it is cooled by a Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern fan, which pumps air into the entire lower compartment of the Birdhouse 001 case. There is simply nothing more to say about the lower part of the case, at this stage it is “tightly” closed and the work is transferred to the upper part of the case, where the motherboard is located.
Examining this photo carefully, experienced overclockers would certainly object to the use of the Thermaltake Ruby Orb cooler, however, as it was written at the beginning of the article, the choice on store shelves was extremely limited, as was the budget allocated for this computer. But these are not all the reasons why it was decided, nevertheless, to use Thermaltake Ruby Orb. The massive heatsink on the motherboard concealed two "hot" elements: the NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI northbridge and the NVIDIA nForce 200 expansion controller. In any case, this heatsink needs forced airflow, which the Thermaltake Ruby Orb CPU cooler can handle perfectly. Well, the last thing that, perhaps, many have already guessed is the dimensions. The height of the upper compartment of the case is equal to the height of the fans that will pump cool air, that is, 120 mm. A productive heatpipe cooler that would be lower than ~105 mm simply did not exist at the time the case was assembled, although a couple of months later Scythe Shuriken and Scythe Big Shuriken appeared on sale:
These coolers would most likely be more efficient than Thermaltake's Ruby Orb solid aluminum heatsink.
Having installed all the components (two ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M video cards and a Creative Audigy 2 ZS sound card) that were supposed to be used, the situation was quite interesting:
There was simply no free space in the upper part of the Birdhouse 001 vertically. All components literally rested "head on the ceiling." However, in the horizontal plane there was even a free platform. That's exactly how it was intended. According to the author, such "crampedness" will force the air pumped by three Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern fans to pass only through the cooler heatsinks, thereby ensuring maximum cooling efficiency. A similar technology is being taken in high-power video adapters that need serious cooling.
To estimate the dimensions, the following photographs are attached, since the dimensions of 290x400x400 mm (W.D.V.) cannot convey them visually. For comparison, “boxed” versions of the licensed game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which can be found in a good half of gamers, were attached to the case:
Compared to most mass-produced Middle Tower cases with an average size of 450 x 250 x 450 (W.D.H.), this case can even be perceived as a "thick" Desktop, especially in comparison with Full standard cases popular with overclockers and lovers of silence. Tower, with an average size of 250 x 550 x 520 (W.D.H.).
Well, as they say, the final touch! Disproportionately large side walls, which are also legs.
Well, actually, here it is - Birdhouse 001. Perhaps for many, this form of the system unit will seem strange, but this is how the author saw the quiet and productive, creative and stylish case. However, everyone has their own opinion - constructive criticism is welcome on the forum of our site.
Testing
Of course, you won’t be fed up with one appearance. The case should not only "please the eye", but also effectively cool the contents. Just to evaluate the effectiveness of switching from the upgraded 3R System - Neon Light PRE case to the modding home-made Birdhouse 001, the results of testing, which was carried out in two modes, are attached. The first was conditionally "without overclocking". All frequencies and voltages were set to AUTO mode, except for the value of the processor supply voltage, which is set to 1.25 V by default on the ASUS P5N-D motherboard for some unknown reason.
In practice, it was found that the processor retains full stability when the supply voltage is 1.075 V, which naturally affects its heating.
For forced maximum heating of the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, the LinX stress test program was used, and FurMark was used to heat the video adapters. Also, in the form of a control temperature measurement, the Futuremark 3DMark "06 test was performed, where, in theory, the motherboard chipset should have warmed up more. It should also be noted that for maximum adequacy of the results, a household air conditioner was used. The purpose of its use is simple: for a while testing to maintain the air temperature in the room at 24 ° C. Thermaltake Cyclo 12cm Red Pattern fans located on the front panel of the Birdhouse 001 case were used as additional sensors. lighting), but the benefits of them more than cover the extra costs.
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System element |
Temperature, °C |
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3R System - Neon Light PRE |
"Birdhouse 001" |
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Analyzing the results, we can safely say that the modernization was not in vain. The temperature of the processor decreased by two degrees in idle mode, and by five degrees in stress testing mode. Video adapters finally began to approach the "sane" temperature regime, which immediately affected the operation of their cooling systems. In games or under other 3D loads, the turbines no longer worked at 100%, but were limited to an interval of 40-70%, which was very pleasing to the ear.
The decrease in processor temperature made us seriously think about overclocking it, since there is a potential for this. Using the settings already outlined, several attempts were made to pass stress testing at different frequencies. As a result, comparing the frequency/heating ratio, it was decided to operate the system at the following frequencies:
The FSB bus operated at a reference frequency of 376 MHz, which, together with the x8.5 multiplier, made it possible for the processor to operate at a final clock frequency of 3200 MHz. At the same time, we had to raise the supply voltage from 1.075 V to 1.15 V. All other supply voltages remained the lowest that could be set in the BIOS. As a result, the temperature of the main elements took the following values.
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System element |
Temperature, °C |
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3R System - Neon Light PRE |
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Since the system is positioned as a productive computer for games, it should be shown what kind of performance this system shows directly in games. And at the same time, what an increase the system received from an increase in the processor clock frequency by 364 MHz.
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Benchmark |
Settings |
3R System - Neon Light PRE |
Birdhouse 001 Intel Core 2 Quad [email protected] |
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Average FSP / result |
Average FSP / result |
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standard |
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky Benchmark |
Maximum improved dynamic Lighting 1600 x 1200 |
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Sun rays |
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Crysis Warhead FBWH BenchTool |
1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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RESIDENT EVIL 5 Benchmark Version |
1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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1600x1200AA-x0 |
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1600x1200AA-x8 |
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X3 Terran Conflict Rolling Demo |
1600 x 1200 AA-x0 AF -x0 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x8 AF-x16 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x0 AF -x0 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x8 AF-x16 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x0 AF -x0 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x8 AF-x16 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x0 AF -x0 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x8 AF-x16 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x0 AF -x0 |
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1600 x 1200 AA-x8 AF-x16 |
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The average performance increase in benchmark programs and games was about 5%, which is not as much as we would like. Most likely, non-overclocked video cards are the weaker point in the system, and the situation will not change much from a further increase in the processor clock frequency. Of course, you can overclock video cards, moreover, attempts to take this action were:
However, to ensure an acceptable temperature regime, it took half an hour to cool the temperature in the room to 17 ° C using an air conditioner and continuously maintain it during testing. Talking about such exploitation on a permanent basis is pointless.
Outcome
Modding is a great tool for improving the technical characteristics of a computer. Depending on its orientation, you can achieve a more comfortable acoustic mode of operation of the system unit or make its contents work faster, and possibly both at once. On the example of the case described in this article, it is clearly seen that there is nothing difficult in this process, and even in terms of capital investment, such global work did not exceed 500 UAH in total. If we confine ourselves to simple fans, and not animated ones, then the total investment will be only about 350 UAH. In any case, both amounts are significantly less than the price of specialized Middle Tower and, moreover, Full Tower cases.
And of course, modding is a great way to create something of your own, personal and unique, creative and high-tech, reflecting the "true face of the creator and owner." After all, it is so nice to present your creation to the public during some kind of celebration, which will always be appreciated by knowledgeable people or post its photos on the Internet, where it will always be appreciated.
Positive consequences of the creation of the Birdhouse 001 building:
Negative features of the Birdhouse 001 case:
Afterword
Few of the readers wondered about the durability of modding solutions and their "health". I would like to leave a note in the afterword that the Skvorechnik 001 case, without any comments, exactly in the form in which it is presented in the article and with the same overclocking, worked for almost eight months, starting from the date of its creation - February 2009, and ending the date of his "retirement" - October 2009. What served as the sending of such a seemingly competent corps "retirement" you will learn in the second part of the material. You will also learn about the hidden overclocking potential of the components of this system, and in fact you will see a new case, which is listed under the code name " Birdhouse 002WaterWorld". In the meantime, as an announcement of a future review, the following photo is attached:
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