Log BT-02B-U3 case shall have new life

jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
greetings, its Jere here!, i have started new case build/slight modding to transplant my current parts (r5 2600, gtx 1060 etc) to inside of chieftec bt 02 u3 case that i finded for 20 euros.
i have been desiging 3d prints to fight this cases absurd 1 slot gpu limititation, designed some prototype parts to hold 120mm front fans and one exhaust fan, and a way to install dual slot gpu hopefully also cutted front panel open to await proper mesh finding or another ideas to come into my mind 😁 this will take some time but this shall also be my world in corona times project 🙂

idea for this came after finding b-stock riser cable for cheap, here some photos of my slow progress so far
yours - jere




 
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jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
some progress: i cutted out hole for upper fan to breathe with dremmel and filed it somewhat, i am pleased with my results, as this is my first dremmeled hole 🙂 also installed old dust filter using double sided pe foam tape. yours - jere

some photos:



 
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Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
Very cool project! Looking forward to see it all come together. I like what you've done so far. Care to share your ideas for the changed layout? What are you doing with the PSU?
 

jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
Very cool project! Looking forward to see it all come together. I like what you've done so far. Care to share your ideas for the changed layout? What are you doing with the PSU?
some ideas so far: i have some hopes to either fit modded fsp flexguru 250w (i have made adapter with 10 pin molex connector to get power for one 6 pin psu and for ssds to use instead the factory 10 pin that spits out lots of hdd/ssd power cables, same concept that Custom Mod used at one of his videos) or try fit inside my used hdplex400w and FTPC320V24 led psu by POS which has ends chopped off for more room and might have 3d printed endcaps if turns out possible, time will tell what i come up eventually. yours - jere
 

jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
trying some 8 euro costed black mesh thing for cars that i have bigger piece in stash, fine tuned side/top panel part so that it can slide in fully, also added m5 thread inserts to noctua slim fan to have proper thign to tight screw into. yours - jere


 
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Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
some ideas so far: i have some hopes to either fit modded fsp flexguru 250w (i have made adapter with 10 pin molex connector to get power for one 6 pin psu and for ssds to use instead the factory 10 pin that spits out lots of hdd/ssd power cables, same concept that Custom Mod used at one of his videos) or try fit inside my used hdplex400w and FTPC320V24 led psu by POS which has ends chopped off for more room and might have 3d printed endcaps if turns out possible, time will tell what i come up eventually. yours - jere
You might want to consider a 12V DC-DC system rather than a 20V system like HDPlex - MeanWell makes some fantastic, compact industrial PSUs that are excellent for compact PC builds alongside a good PDCB/PicoPSU like those from G-Unique or J-Hack. There's a whole thread on 12V PSUs over here. I've built a HTPC with a MeanWell RPS-200-12C (200W, very compact) and modded a Dell Optiplex SFF with a MeanWell UHP-350-12 (350W, a much longer but very slim form factor), both with G-Unique PDCBs (the ArchDaemon). With your setup you would probably want a load switch as well - G-Unique can include one in the wiring for the ArchDaemon; I believe J-Hack sells a separate load switch board that is quite flexible.

The advantages of 12V are mainly efficiency - fewer conversion steps (direct mains AC voltage -> 12V (and then minor voltages off that, rather than mains AC -> 19V -> 12V+minor voltages) - and space savings (less voltage conversion on the PDCB means less heat, no heatsinks, fewer components). You also have a huge selection of extremely high efficiency PSUs - MeanWell's 12V units often sit around 94% efficiency across their useful ranges. Plus there's more choice in internal PSUs, meaning it's easier to find one to fit your build.

Still, these systems are not the cheapest (can be cheaper than HDPlex, but likely not a lot, depends on regional AC-DC PSU availability), so a modded FlexATX PSU might be a good idea.


Oh, btw, your image embeds don't work properly - I dont' think the forums support image links like that.

You can either just paste the link directly into the post, and the forums make a link like this:

Or you can use an [img ] url [/img ] (without spaces) tag to embed the image directly.
 

jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
i finally got some time to try my parts inside somewhat modded case, and came up with slight snag at my plans since old mobo and r5 died after dusting with datavac :( so got new motherboard and cpu which slowed down this case project due to need of saving money. with new cpu and mobo i then noticed that even using 180 degree adapter for gpu power, the socket would be about 4-5mm outside of the case (internal screaming), so if i am gonna use this case at all for some time before trying to get gpu upgrade which might make this one useless by then due the lenght of and more higher rx6600/ rtx3060s :eek:, i would need to add mesh window into outer case shell with 3d printed bezel to add needed hight 🤔 hdplex would be used with dells 330w brick to ensure better airflow inside or i can try if 250w flexguru will suffice for under volted 3800x and stock 1060 combo, which would be very very close.

yours - jere

parts try out,:

 

Valantar

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 20, 2018
2,201
2,225
That's a shame! GPU power connectors are always tricky, though there are tools and techniques for making them lower profile. Not for the faint of heart, but the method @petricor used over in the S4Max thread (originally credited to @Josh | NFC ) essentially eliminates power cables protruding over the connector, to the tune of just a few mm total added height.
 

jerewarrior

Chassis Packer
Original poster
May 25, 2020
19
24
Not cool at all :(

Your Datavac is probably not ESD grounded, do you mind sharing what model it is?
my duster/datavac thing is itdusters compucleaner, and yes it was not cool, i bought it from sale last year and until now had no problem, it was also my first proper cleaning for quite awhile by taking all parts out of case, dusting case and then installing all back without any dust left., i honestly dont know if my body had some static charge (which i assume was the case) when i assembled all back put i did do my best to empty possible charge by touching our central heater radiators and grounded psu for while. yours -jere

 
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BaK

King of Cable Management
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May 17, 2016
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Thanks for the info. They mention an 'ESD brush kit' for the Compucleaner Xpert model, but not for the Original one.
Could it be the brush you used? Must have been bad luck anyway as you seem to have done everything right.
Killing both cards is so surprising!