Deployment Box

[Ceros_X]

I just ordered parts off Amazon, so I will begin the build log. I've been sitting on the fence, doing research and measuring things for quite a while - time to start the thread!

My current computer was a SFF beast back in its day - Is tarted off with a Shuttle SX48P2 , added in an Intel C2D E8400, 8GB of ram, an upgraded Shuttle 450W SFF PSU, and last of all, a PowerColor Radeon 4870. I packed all of this into a Pelican Case along with a Shuttle thin 19" monitor and took it over most of the East Coast on week long business trips. Now, I am starting to feel the urge to upgrade and I am looking to make something I can take with me on my next Marine Corps deployment.

1) Parts to Date:

Computer
Intel i6600K Processor
GA-Z170N ITX MB
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3000MHz (PC4-24000)
Noctua NH-L9I
Intel 80gb SSD - already currently own, plan to recycle

Case
Pelican 1490 Case
Pelican 1490 Panel Frame Kit

The measurements for the 1490 Pelican case are:

EXTERIOR (L X W X D)
19.87" x 13.93" x 4.68" (50.5 x 35.4 x 11.9 cm)

INTERIOR (L X W X D)
17.75" x 11.37" x 4.12" (45.1 x 28.9 x 10.5 cm)

Now, I know this doesn't look extremely challenging, but I plan to build in just the bottom half of the Pelican Case - reserving the lid for a possible monitor install and peripheral storage. The case's bottom measurements are:
17.75" x 11.37" x 2.62" (451mm x 289mm x 67mm) [or 8.73 Liters] - actually a little less than that, because the panel frame kit (will let me use a metal plate in between the top and bottom lid) will eat up a lot of that space. I am estimating an overall height for the build of 61.5mm.

I have done some initial mockups with cardboard and a graphics card I borrowed from a friend. See below:














I will be waiting for the upcoming Pascale release before I buy a graphics card, but the current Radeo 7970 in there is a 'worst case' scenario - I will be aiming for something like the Nvidia 970 GTX in terms of size/price/performance. I've also been looking into riser cables and estimate I will need about a 250mm cable.

I am up on the air in terms of PSU at the moment. I did the original mockups with an SFX sized PSU in the case, but I think that it will be about 2mm too tall for the top panel (an aluminum plate I plan on either making myself or ordering through DataPro). This leaves me with several choices - cutting a PSU sized hole in the panel, modding the PSU to be about 2mm shorter (possibly replacing the fan at the same time with a 120mm x 12mm fan?) or going with a Flex ATX PSU. I am hesitant to go with a Flex ATX PSU because I have heard they are super loud, and the last thing my future room mate on deployment wants is a jet engine cycling up when I try and watch a movie. I have considered and discarded an HDPLEX 250W board with a Dell/HP brick mainly for budget reasons - all the components except for the graphics card are on a budget of $650 (I already owned the pelican case and SSD - purchasing everything else).

Other issues to be addressed as parts arrive: static buildup, grounding, shock mounts, attaching the motherboard to the case without drilling through anything, mounting a laptop LCD screen to the lid...

It will be a wild ride!

 

[iFreilicht]

Let's see where this goes! FlexATX noise won't be a problem when you're just watching a movie, but during high gaming load, they are very audible. If you really are that sensitive to fan noise, go with SFX or SFX-L even. Cutting a small part of the alumium plate to fit the PSU seems reasonable to me.

Other issues to be addressed as parts arrive: static buildup, grounding, shock mounts, attaching the motherboard to the case without drilling through anything, mounting a laptop LCD screen to the lid...

I don't think you'll have any reason to worry about static buildup or grounding. The PC is grounded via the PSU, and all components are grounded and connected to eachother, so they'll stay at the same potential.
It'll be interesting how you mount everything though.

 

[Phuncz]

Oooh a pelicase-case, I'm taking notes ! I've always wanted to do one but never got to it.

 

[Ceros_X]

Update!

Well, not much of an update, Amazon still hasn't shipped my Noctua cooler (and apparently Intel doesn't ship stock coolers with their i5 6600k processors) so I'm stuck in the water for a while. I have been working other pieces of my project in the meantime, though.

First off, here is a box shot of all the components received to date.

Shot of the Panel Frame kit fit inside. Need to get some screws to attach my future panel to the frame.

I was originally planning on putting the GPU on the right, thinking about swapping orientations and putting it on the left to allow IO ports to be located closer to the back - less cable length needed.

Original Orientation

Picked up some used, USB powered speakers - these were modified for a government contract then discarded, so they have some awesome metal grills. Test fitting them into the case lid here.. might have to strip the plastic backings off to get it flush or deal with them poking out just a little. Only concern is this would limit the size of the laptop display I could mount here, but I really like the speaker grills.

Plenty of room for the USB cables to reach the Mobo. Both of the speakers pictured are right speakers. The N400 left is supposed to be unpowered and hooked up by a 3.5mm audio cable. These speakers are both right speakers, however. Testing has indicated windows only likes playing one speaker or the other but there are apps to force both streams to be used. Also considering using a 3.5mm audio jack to speaker cable cord to hook up the left speaker as a slave (chopping out PCB entirely and splicing the cable directly to the speakers).

Here is a shot of the disassembled N400 speakers. The highest component is the speakers themselves, but the way the PCB fits on top of them adds additional height. Note the copious use of hot glue and the strain relief.

Due to the way everything is mounted inside the speaker, the cable actually goes through the PCB. To get the PCB to lie flat requires desoldering the wires from the PCB and reattaching them. Same for removing the strain relief. Luckily that is no issue for me :V

This is what the N400 came out to after modification - strain relief removed and everything made to be as flat as possible.

PCB sits noticeably flatter. I did this to a non-working speaker as a proof of concept, still unsure if I will actually mod the speakers..

Here is a pic of the mobo tray I have hacked out of an old case. Excuse the rough lines, used an angle grinder to hack it out. It was riveted in all over the place. Intend to (maybe) smooth out the edges and paint it black. This has the standoffs built into the tray and they are pretty low, height wise. If the Noctua back plate won't clear I may have to chop out a hole for it. Function > Form for things that won't be seen!

Currently shopping for case switches (16mm Vandal), as well as component mounting solutions - probably going to go with adhesive backed Velcro for flexibility and pelican case integrity. Also been looking at this FPC HDMI cable for a way to get a tight fitting GPU connected to either the in case monitor or a pass through port - I love the thinness, but am a little skeptical as to weather or not it would suffer from interference. Also looking for Pascale cards to hit shelves soon hopefully and been speaking with Amerirack about shielded PCI-E risers cables. They don't stock the length/angle that I need so I might have to go with Li-Heat.

I believe I have settled on the Seasonic SS-500L1U 500W [JohnnyGuru review]. ThePSU is a 1U unit and extremely long, but I have plenty of space to accommodate it. It is also fanless until over 400W, which should hopefully mean it won't ever need to spin the fan up for my build. If it does, then I won't have a problem modding it with 2x 80mm or 92mm fans and disconnecting the built in fan. The unit is available on Newegg and through Amerirack (not listed, but available by emailing their sales) for about $100. I will have to mod/shorten the PSU cables, guess I'll have to learn how to do that :V (any tips/good guides/tool recommendations are appreciated).

Edit: Also thinking about possible getting a sound bar for the lid instead of two thick speakers like this or this Dell soundbar.

 

[Chris Howell]

Cool build! I like the idea. I had a friend that made an Xbox 360 laptop once using a similar method.

Go for the sound bar, the audio quality on those things are really good now. Also, looking forward to seeing your experiences with the 1U PSU - thinking outside the box there - very cool. Nice work dude.

 

[Ceros_X]

Cool build! I like the idea. I had a friend that made an Xbox 360 laptop once using a similar method.

Go for the sound bar, the audio quality on those things are really good now. Also, looking forward to seeing your experiences with the 1U PSU - thinking outside the box there - very cool. Nice work dude.

I actually changed courses slightly and went with a Corsair SF450 PSU. I will have to cut the panel either way, but the Seasonic SS-500L1U would have wound up much more expensive and more work in the long run for about the same result. The Corsair has semi-fanless operation, is completely modular and has a 92mm fan (plus the cables are black). When I cut the hole for it, I'll line the square with gasket-type material and friction fit it - it should stick up 1-2mm only. With the Seasonic SS-500L1U, I would have been buying an additional set of fan and fan grills, plus cutting more material and additional expenses for resleeving the cables (I don't have any of the crimping tools, sleeving material, etc). The Seasonic was also $10 more expensive. In the end I went with the Corsair, although I still somewhat regret passing on the Seasonic. It'll also leave me more room for 2.5" storage drives I think.

I think I will probably go with the Dell sound bar that utilizes the 12V adapter - seems like it would be pretty easy power off the PSU and also has two built in headphone ports which would come in handy for a project like this. Just have to figure out what type of display I will put in there - I could fit a 17" IPS panel with no speaker, but I'll probably wind up going for a cheaper 15.6" IPS 1080p panel for better PPI and room for a sound bar. Sill looking at measurements though.

My Noctua came in and I have already installed it after drilling some hole through the back plate (now painted black and cleaned up) to be able to turn the thumb screws while the cooler is installed. The clearance was super tight, so I put some electrical tape on the thumb screws to ensure nothing grounds out while I work on drilling out clearance for them. I am a little concerned because it looks like the NH-l9i is actually making contact with the chipset heat pipe

Also purchase some more components, most should be arriving today. Picked up CHENYANG USB 3.0 port to mobo cable header, a 5 foot rool of 1.5" generic pressure sensitive adhesive back hook and loop (Velcro) , a 3.5mm audio to bare wire cable [for my speaker side project], and a 16mm Vandal switch for power, and a 50cm right angled flat HDMI FPC cable. Also the Corsair SF450 already mentioned.

I contacted LiHeat over facebook and they reposned back to me within 5 minutes, even though it was 11:30pm in Taiwan. I ordered a 250mm Type A cable from them and got it for $39 shipped. They were extremely helpful and I can see why many people use them. A little sad I couldn't find what I needed here in the US, but thems the breaks.

 

[Ceros_X]

Imgur Album Link https://imgur.com/a/mJPU9

Ok, been a while since the last update - had some pictures but been too busy to post them so see above.

The Corsair PSU has been awesome. It spins up once when the PC turns on, and other than that it just sits there and is completely silent and non-moving. Going to move in to testing out some graphics cards, can't wait till my LiHeat Riser gets here. Should be transiting the globe now. Still waiting on the FPC HDMI cable and the USB 3.0 MB header.

Going to work on degreasing the Pelican Case with some brake cleaner, scuffing up the case with some scotch pads and then applying the Velcro to the bottom of the case. Also need to work on some GPU standoffs/brackets/mounts.

After that I'm looking to fabricating a top panel. Still undecided if I'll get a premade blank aluminum panel or try and cut my own. A large part is working the passthroughs: ethernet, usb, wifI antennas, fan grills/holes, etc.

 

[Ceros_X]

Got a bunch of stuff in, but haven't had any time to work on stuff until yesterday! Here is the update montage woot.

Imgur Album Link: https://imgur.com/a/nGqn9

There was a lot of testing things not pictured - I had read that Pelican cases exude a waxy buildup which can be challenging to glue things to.. I took a 1 inch square of velcro and attached it to my lid and suspended 2x D batteries from it. I checked to see if it would pull free or not and it did a little shy of 24 hours later.

This led me to follow some advice about using brake cleaner to degrease the case. I heard some decrying of this method because it could make the plastic brittle so I tested it out on an old 2U ruggedized case enclosure I had in my garage and then hit it with a hammer a few times. No issues, so I deemed it save enough to use on the case.

I got the super thin HDMI cable previously mentioned, as well as a panel mount network pass through. You can see the network cable in one of the pictures. The HDMI cable will remain unused until I get the HDMI passthrough I ordered in... then I will test it out, as it is pretty impossible to do as short as it is now.

The crimper and ATX pins arrived, next time I get time I'm going to work on shortening the Corsair cables. It is going to be extremely challenging as all the cables are black and I will have to tag them all to keep from getting them mixed up.

Still on my todo list is to locate all the ventilation cutouts I will need to make and then cut them - one for the CPU, one for the PSU and then maybe a case fan. When all of my passthroughs arrive (still waiting on the USB 3.0 cable slowboating from China as well as an HDMI pass through) I will cut the panel to accommodate those. It looks like they will probably all be located close to the hinge area in the top middle of the case. After that, I need to sand down the wood and paint it black and test it out before working on the CAD for the aluminum plate cutouts.

I ordred a dell soundbar and next on my order list is either a 17" or 15.6" laptop screen for the lid with converter card. Will decide which once the soundbar comes in and I see how much room I have left.

 

[iFreilicht]

Very good progress! Using those terminal connector for the mains doesn't seem very safe, though. They can't really come off on the PSU side, but on the connector side I'd worry about them just falling off. I guess it's not much of an issue as you'll always remove the power cable before disassembly anyway, but I feel uneasy about the idea of it.

 

[Ceros_X]

They are extremely hard to pull off - I am worried about the wires pulling out before the terminals coming off sometimes. I can add some velcro or a cord holder to the underside of the panel to keep the weight off the terminal connectors and maybe use some hot glue to keep them in place but the connection is very tight.

 

[Ceros_X]

Got a lot of part in that aren't pictured in this update (92mm fan grills) as well as more that are enroute.

Everything is taking shape nicely and hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get passthroughs cut in the wood panels, the LCD screen mounted, etc.

I am pondering right now how to better keep some things (FPC cable, LiHeat riser, GPU, etc) from shorting out on slightly conductive surfaces. Also about what to make my GPU brackets out of and how exactly to brace the top panel in the lid.

I had though I'd use closed cell foam blocks screwed into the card and velcroed into the case but am unsure about the potential static generation. Thinking of maybe using nail polish, liquid heat shrink or something similar - electrical tape just feels ghetto. An ideas?

 

[jeshikat]

Thinking of maybe using nail polish, liquid heat shrink or something similar - electrical tape just feels ghetto. An ideas?

Plastidip?

 

[Ceros_X]

Plastidip?

I may give it a try, looked at it earlier in AutoZone.

So some decent progress today during my lunch break,,

 

[Ceros_X]

I've been working a lot but not a whole lot of progress - moved from a wood panel to a plexiglass panel after being unhappy with the holes I made in the wood panel. Bought some router bits for my dremel to better sketch out everything.. platidipped my display controller card and velcroed it and the wifi antenna into the lid. Mounted two small 1W laptop speakers into the lid wood, painted it all black.

I suffered a casualty today when I powered up my system... system came up and went to BIOS, then there was a loud pop and now the PSU won't power on. Unhooked everything, checked for scorch marks (none)and sniffed some ozone. PSU won't pass paperclip test. Hopefully system didn't fry. I put in an RMA request, will send it off...

I'll try and get some updated pics one I stop being bummed.

 

[iFreilicht]

Oh shit, hopefully the other components are fine. It seems strange that a PSU could go like that, I would expect it to die immediately after start-up, not after a few seconds.
Hope the RMA will go through quickly.

 

[BoloisBolo]

Cool build! Sad to only have stumbled upon it when it seems to be on hold.
Hope everything works out!

 

[Ceros_X]

So work got a little busy (too many 14 hour days) but I finally got a chance to send the PSU back last week, right before the holiday weekend. I just received a brand new SF450 (shrink wrapped, even) back in the mail. So less than a week turnaround time. I had to pay to ship the power supply to them but I kept my cables when I sent it in and wound up getting a brand new set so this balances it out in my eyes. Now I'll be able to shorten the cables while using my PSU which will let me take my time.

In the interim I'd been using an old Shuttle 450w power supply. It was a little bigger than the PSU it easy filling in for, but it seemed like it did have a pretty big fan (for something so small made in 2009) and extremely short MB cable. So short that I wondered if it might be feasible for a PSU company to just attach the Mobo power connector directly to the PSU and let people use the much cheaper cable extenders available for cheap instead of having to do proprietary cable harnesses.

Work slowed down so hopefully I will be able to make some more progress on the final installs of all panel mount cables into the lexan sheet I bought.

Shots of the Shuttle 450w psu:

Imgur Album Link: https://imgur.com/a/fmQjR

 

[EdZ]

I've seen quite a few 'semi-modular' PSUs (I think I have an Antec one buried in a cupboard somewhere) that did exactly that: ATX and EPS12V plugs wired directly, with PCIe and SATA/Molex power plugs on modular connectors. Haven't seen that layout on any SFX PSUs though.

 

[Ceros_X]

Thought I'd give an update on this...

I bought the Lexan (not plexiglass) but didn't have time or appropriate facilities to cut all the ports for the panel mount cables. Getting precise holes milled out of Lexan while also meeting the rounded oval shape of the pelican case is tough. I was building the computer for my next deployment and just ran out of time at the end. No worries though, I just rolled all the cables up tight and closed it up.. I spreay painted the wooden monitor mount black and embedded some 1W laptop speakers I bought from Amazon. Not the sound bar I wanted, just didn't have the panel space to mount it.

I've since traveled across the Atlantic and the case did just fine, all components survived intact. Additionally, I brought an 8TB HDD in a padded envelope in my carry on and just set it in the upper right hand corner. When I travel I rebag it and put it in a backpack and close the case up tight. It's survived flights around Iraq so far.

I have had a bit of an issue with static - the steel plate seems to keep the motherboard safe but I've had a shock once or twice moving around on a static producing bed while wearing ear phones - getting shocked in your ear is interesting lol. I might have to look at splicing a ground wire to the MB plate and running it to the ground on my power plug. I sometimes also have static related flickering on my laptop screen -- super crazy static build up out here in the desert. Any ideas would be great on the grounding front.

Still rocking the 750 Ti, I've thought about upgrading but never find myself gaming with it so I've written it off for now. I've also thought about going the other way entirely and jamming everything into a HDPLEX H1.S or an NFC S4 Mini in an attempt to mount one or two 8TB drives in my pelican case, but I just don't think I can justify the price to the wife no matter how much like computer sex they look. I'd post some more pics but my case has actually out-survived my cased Galaxy Note 4 (though to be honest I think I just broke the battery that last drop).

I encourage everyone to give a shot at case construction, a very rewarding experience!

 

[Josh | NFC]

Did you ever look into replacing your foam with DSF? I also would consider a grounding cable running from the motherboard to the GPU to the PSU case. I had to do that with some Paladins for some really super ESD prone environments.