Are our PC cases designed hopelessly old fashioned and irrelevant to function? Mine's loud, I know that. But one guy is showing off his DYI project and it's got some innovations that mostly address functionality directly. Here it is:

Silent Wooden PC Case.

He covers the basics like optimal airflow and de-coupling anything that makes noise, and moves it away so it can't be used to set beverages on...

Sure this is the oldest design of standard computing to DIY upgrade, in fact when you see the guy's breakout box to control it, you immediately realize an OrangePi could fit in the breakout box and negate the need for a PC upstairs with a bunch of fans running...

In conclusion, there's no shortage of great DIY videos out there, but this stands out to me for throwing the rule book away and thinking on one's feet.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2016 02:57PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

> computing to DIY upgrade, in fact when you see the
> guy's breakout box to control it, you immediately
> realize an OrangePi could fit int e breakout box
> and negate the need for a PC upstairs with a bunch
> of fans running...
>

When my Acer Revo 360 HTPC will have died, that's exactly what I'll do. Use a nice looking microATX case and put either RPi2/3, ODROID C1/2, or other comparable lost cost ARM board in it => a completely silent HTPC.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Whoah you're on to something with the ODROID-XU4 !!!
For all those deals we've enjoyed on Pogoplugs, these cost less than the original price.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-

IMO, when building or buying your HTPC, get exactly what you need at the minimum cost. Don't overspend and thinking about growth. It will be obsolete vey quickly.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Point well taken for sure.

Say Bodhi, maybe this is a good place to ask, did you get the noise down on that unit that was a little loud for comfort?

I ask because my power supply on main computer is around that big, has two fans, and the size of the unit seems conducive to amplifying noise that much more just because of its acoustic size. It's decoupled from the case with a purpose-built rubber mount and floated in place. My last hope before shelling out $$$ for new power supply is to decouple the fans from their mounts inside the power supply. May as well lube and armor all the fans while I've got it apart as well.

Before going that far, I might take a piece of rubber welcome mat with rubber spikes and cut that to the bottom of the case to reduce acoustic reflections. Heat it up till well pliable and let it cool in place... Wish I had rubber in a pail as seen on TV.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2016 09:39PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Point well taken for sure.
>
> Say Bodhi, maybe this is a good place to ask, did
> you get the noise down on that unit that was a
> little loud for comfort?
>

I did. I can't hear the fan from more than 3ft or 4ft away.

> I ask because my power supply on main computer is
> around that big, has two fans, and the size of the
> unit seems conducive to amplifying noise that much
> more just because of its acoustic size. It's
> decoupled from the case with a purpose-built
> rubber mount and floated in place. My last hope
> before shelling out $$$ for new power supply is to
> decouple the fans from their mounts inside the
> power supply. May as well lube and armor all the
> fans while I've got it apart as well.
>

I think boba has an interesting mod where the fan is supended with steel wires. That would really isolate the noise to nothing. But I don't want to cut the back panel of my NSA325V2, so I'm fine with the current noise level.

Yeah, and I have an old thick rubber mouse pad underneath the NSA325V2 to isolate any vibration, too.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2016 01:13AM by bodhi.

bodhi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> IMO, when building or buying your HTPC, get
> exactly what you need at the minimum cost. Don't
> overspend and thinking about growth. It will be
> obsolete vey quickly.

+1

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whoah you're on to something with the ODROID-U4!!! For all those deals we've enjoyed on Pogoplugs, these cost less than the original price.

Joey, that is a really nice piece of hardware there. But, I will just have to wait until other manufacturer start to flood the market with a much less expensive price tag. This will probably take 2+ years. Meanwhile, I will enjoy what my slow and inexpensive duo-core PogoPlug Pro (when compared to this ODROID XU4) will offer.

Cool - anything quadcore and 2+ G RAM and an honest Gigabit (SATA II huge plus), for my purposes is perfect for quite a while.

The Pogoplugs will almost certainly outlive me, and my main Desktop, while it takes up 100 watts (+ monitors) @ cruising altitude it too does the heavy lifting.

Two or three SOCs with above specs* complete my cloud and a mountain to get there.
* including a Kodi box for my mom :-)

**RANT** I can't tell you the challenges that arise from the OrangePi people not taking regular PayPal. My income is intermittent (volatile, radical) and as soon as a Good Samaritan offers to help, life calls with mundane survival purchases. Oh well, maybe I'll find things to do in the meantime
:-)

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2016 09:57PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cool - anything quadcore and 2+ G RAM and an
> honest Gigabit (SATA II huge plus), for my
> purposes is perfect for quite a while.
>

Joey, I am just curious what exactly did you mean by an honest Gigabit?

i can answer that one - on tests some of the boards max out at 800mbit

- typically a driver issue or future kernel tweak needed

@ Gravelrash you got to it quicker and I didn't see that. Good one.

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Joey, I am just curious what exactly did you mean
> by an honest Gigabit?

Some SOCs like some BananaPis call it Gigabit but then say it's limited to the bus speed which isn't anywhere near that speed.

So, we've seen Gigabit that isn't up to spec, SATA out of Pogoplugs that isn't faster than a USB plugged in, it's another reason I thank you technical guys for being fully aware what the bottlenecks are so we better understand the systems.

=========
-= Cloud 9 =-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2016 01:30PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

@Joey: I understood what you said.