# [work log] Diy itx case, aka ikea case



## Hattu (Dec 14, 2018)

Greetings from Finland!  My first post to TPU and this forum...

So, i'm building a new itx case from a scratch. It's gona be a long project and my first, but at least i've started building it.  I have a lot of other money holes atm, so i think this project could take additional 3-9 months to finish from this point. Fortunately, i can take most of the (metal) materials free from my work.  Would still need about 150 - 450€ to finish it. Closer to the latter if i choose to use an AIO watercooler, like Eisbaer 240 LT. It should fit...

I started to build my original ryzen rig about a year ago, and finished it early last spring. Everything is working fine, except i don't like the size of my case (Define Nano S) and my GPU is from 2011... I don't use it for gaming, so it's okay-ish for now...

After a few weeks fidling with available materials, beer, pen and paper, i decided to use 8x12mm steel rods for the chassis and add aluminium sheets where needed. And that's about 8 weeks ago.

The sheet in the picture measures about 170x170mm, it's 3mm thick and it's for the MB. It also works as a heatsink for the SSD beneath the MB. The GPU will be attached to the backside of this plate with a riser cable, similarily like in Dan cases. There will be a possibility to adjust the position of the MB/GPU combo vertically, so there should be enough room for thicker GPU/ thinner CPU cooler combination or vice versa.

The SFX (-L) PSU goes under them. On the front there will be two silent 120mm fans and on their left side is room for a small DVD or blueray drive. If i decide to use an AIO, it should fit on the right side of the chassis. Or at bottom, if i relocate the PSU.

The exact position for HDD(s) is a bit open question right now, like the possible fan controller.

As a cover i think i'll use a combination of aluminium sheets and stainless steel mesh. Haven't decided yet the colors for the paint job. Propably matte black on the inside and something colorful outside. No glass panels. Or leds. 

Oh, allmost forgot. The outer dimensions of the chassis right now is 161mm(w), 251mm(h) and 320mm(d).

Components/ My current rig atm:

- CPU : Ryzen 1800x, no oc
- MB : AsRock X370 Fatal1ty ITX /diy VRM heatsink mod
- RAM : 2x8GB GSkill Flare-X 3200/CL14
- SSD : Samsung 960 evo 512 GB
- CPU cooler : Noctua NH-L12S
- Case : Fractal Design Define Nano S
- HDD1 : WD Velociraptor 150GB
- HDD2 : WD Black 1TB
- HDD3 : WD Black 1TB (external USB)
- PSU : BeQuiet SFX-L 500W /w diy ATX+EPS cables
- GPU : Asus GTX 560 Ti 1GB (lol)
- OS : Dualboot WIN 10 Home / Ubuntu
- BackUp : Qnap NAS for backups, music and my photos.

Things to add:

- AIO : Ordered Alphacool Eisbaer 240 LT today, hope it fits.
- Front fans : Noctua redux NF-S12B pwm.
- Fan controller : I'll propably build my own....
- PSU : Diy power cables where needed.
- HDD : One 3 - 8TB to replace the old two internal ones would be nice.
- Front USB and audio connectors: Something ready made...
- Buttons, Power and HDD LEDs : Haven't decided yet...

Things to avoid:

- LED lighting 

So, does anyone have ideas, tips or opinions of my project so far? And yeah, i know the GPU is "rather" old... Thanks to miners... 

I'll take a few more pictures of it at the following days.

And pardon my english, haven't used it for years.


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## Hattu (Dec 19, 2018)

Still waiting for the aio parts to arrive, it'll take two more weeks or so ... And then i'll take it apart and do something with it... Or not.


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## Hattu (Dec 26, 2018)

Met..


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## Vario (Dec 26, 2018)

Cool!  Looking forward to see how this turns out.  Your english is quite good.


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## Hattu (Dec 30, 2018)

Had some extra time and tried with real components. Next time (If there will be) I must take proper measurements.  I haven't noticed, that the cpu coolers support thingy is quite thick and the riser cable have no room left.  And I may have a problem with dvd drive.  Well, I have to wait until next weekend, should have the AIO and more time then.

2 pics from inside my original case, 2 pics about the riser cable issue and a few general. Still alot to do...






















Lol, problem solved with 4 washers. 






First, my smileys went away, then i tried to reply but instead modified my post. Maybe next time I'll manage...

Aargh!


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## Hattu (Jan 15, 2019)

So, had some time today to try to fit most of the components. Issues with the riser cable took away some precious millimeters, but maybe, just maybe, i can squeeze all together. 



Here is some copper and heat transfering material for m.2 SSD.






Front fans and AIO- cooler.






Another angle.







From behind/ right side






And then left side with possible HDD and DVD- drive positions.






The exact width of the case is 161mm, and it seems that's not enough. May need additional 3mm.  But there's still some work to be done before that conclusion. Everything is held together with cable ties atm.


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## Hattu (Mar 15, 2019)

Slow progress, been really busy at work. Got some time yesterday and now I have a few side panels almost ready and the radiator in place.


Radiator:






Left side:






Right side:






Top panel with L-shaped aluminium something, I don't know the right word. 






Quite crowded inside, atm there's like 1-2mm space between ram and radiators fan screw...











That's all for now, hopefully I can continue at sunday. Then it's time to work on psu bracket, gpu and front fans mounting.


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## robot zombie (Mar 16, 2019)

Hattu said:


> Top panel with L-shaped aluminium something, I don't know the right word.


Just to be that guy, it's usually called "aluminum angle." Though when it's iron or sometimes steel people often call it an "angle iron" which then leads some people who work with the stuff every day to call aluminum angle "aluminum angle iron" which just doesn't make a lot of sense. Don't be one of those people 

Anywho, looks like you're approaching the moment of truth!  I wonder how it will cool. Looks like a major pain to assemble! Reminds me of working inside of one of those teeny little Dell Optiplex boxes where you have to break everything down to get to pretty much any one part save for the drives.

Don't get me wrong, I think the layout is pretty interesting. Can't wait to see it really come together! This is madman-level stuff.


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## Hattu (Mar 22, 2019)

robot zombie said:


> Just to be that guy, it's usually called "aluminum angle." Though when it's iron or sometimes steel people often call it an "angle iron" which then leads some people who work with the stuff every day to call aluminum angle "aluminum angle iron" which just doesn't make a lot of sense. Don't be one of those people
> 
> Anywho, looks like you're approaching the moment of truth!  I wonder how it will cool. Looks like a major pain to assemble! Reminds me of working inside of one of those teeny little Dell Optiplex boxes where you have to break everything down to get to pretty much any one part save for the drives.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I think the layout is pretty interesting. Can't wait to see it really come together! This is madman-level stuff.




Yeah, it seems to be quite tight place to assemble.   But, my friends know i'm a madman.   Big Time.


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## Hattu (Mar 31, 2019)

No pictures this time, sorry...

Front fans, bottom plate with rubber feets and psu are now on their places. 

The balance is little of, as most of the heavy components are on the back side, leaving the front "almost floating". If I have enough time and motivation, I might move it to the front.


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## Midiamp (Apr 1, 2019)

Nothing to contribute, just wanted to support you OP. GREAT JOB. I admire people who went out of their way to create things they wanted. I'm an aspiring SFF fan myself, but went back to traditional tower due to fussy demeanor about not finding the perfect case. So keep it up!


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## NoJuan999 (Apr 1, 2019)

I really like the diy can do attitude. 
I look forward to seeing it when you finish.


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## aQi (Apr 4, 2019)

Thats very neatly done. Marvellous work bro 

Well the gfx hold alot of space along with the psu. Not a bad option actually its never a bad option.

If you have seen S4 mini (world’s smallest itx case)

You can use that PSU to support more out of less. In terms of power and space. Just saying though not recommending because your project looks amazing by keeping in view for upgrades.


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## Hattu (Apr 7, 2019)

Got some accessories yesterday, i might have some free hours later today.

That cheap fan controller is for testing only, i still haven't figured out how to control them all. From bios, maybe. The pump is quite silent, but there's a lot of background noises at my work. If cooling performance is decent, say at 10V or so, i might leave the pump with some constant voltage. Anyway, i want the overall control to be independent from os.

I have no idea how to attach that power button to the case, but that's not a big problem. There's allways a way.  Atleast usb-ports seems doable. 

And thank you all for the feedback, I'll keep you updated. 














Aqeel Shahzad said:


> Thats very neatly done. Marvellous work bro
> 
> Well the gfx hold alot of space along with the psu. Not a bad option actually its never a bad option.
> 
> ...



Depending on the gpu i choose, psu may change. 500W is a bit on the low side if i choose 2070, it's decent for the 1160(ti). It's a bit challenging to find a small enough, powerfull and yet affordable gpu here in Finland. If I must buy new psu, it'll be +600W and SFX, without -L.


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## Hattu (Jun 16, 2019)

Hi!

Work, work, work! Always taking my precious time away from my hobbies and free time! 

Bought a new gpu on friday, i think it arrives on wednesday. Ended up buying gigabyte 2060 oc rev 2,0. And i know, i've read it's hot and noisy, but it is the one that will certainly fit in my case. And i hope this newer version is better.

I also bought paint and varnish. Red is a happy color, isn't it?


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## Hattu (Sep 26, 2019)

Here again,

Some sort of personal cricis happened. Lost my job, almost my home, everything went towards h*ll. And the gpu was D.O.A. It's been hard time to cope all this. And i don't even mention this damn manflu i got...


The case is (almost) ready thou, i must ask my friend to 3d print the back panel. Or parts of it. It's here at my home now, i'm writing this and watching Marple at the same time. Multitasking!  

Ran some tests a few days ago, Furmark after few minutes settled to about 71 celsius. Prime95 after about 65 minutes was 55,4 celsius max:







I had a few problems with adjusting fanspeeds. Bios, AsRock's fan software and SpeedFan all read the motherboards temperature information concerning the cpu. And as one can see on the above picture, it's too low comparing it to Tdie. And i can not know how inaccurate it is. So i must evaluate it some more. Also, speedfan was unable to control the fans.

But the main thing is, the case is silent enough to sit on my working table. I must just adjust fan curves accordingly. And maybe, just maybe buy new (more silent) fans for the radiator...


I'll be adding more photos about the case tomorrow, it's too dark now to take photos, about 2:55am here in Finland.


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## Darmok N Jalad (Sep 26, 2019)

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Hopefully you recover quickly!


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## FinneousPJ (Sep 26, 2019)

Hattu said:


> Here again,
> 
> Some sort of personal cricis happened. Lost my job, almost my home, everything went towards h*ll. And the gpu was D.O.A. It's been hard time to cope all this. And i don't even mention this damn manflu i got...
> 
> ...


Pahoittelut. Kotelo näyttää hyvältä!

What is the use case for your system? Mostly gaming or..?


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## Hattu (Sep 26, 2019)

Thanks!

I built it mostly for Photoshop, my five year old mbpro doesn't have enough power anymore. Lightroom works perfectly, tho. My favorite hobby is photgraphing and i haven't been able to practice ps properly.

I'll be also using it for circuit simulation (lt Spice), fl-studio, 3d print designing and programming. Among other things. It's dual boot, Ubuntu and Windows 10.

My son is about to play some game with it, so i have to wait to take it apart and take photos.

Mkay, took some crappy photos, it's too dark here in the fall evenings....


Here's my setup:








Closer look. Dimensions without feets are 171mm x 256mm x 328mm.







And from other side. Those six screws on top holds everything in place.








As you can see, there's no back panel. Yet. Below the gpu, there's a hole for two usb3 ports and reset button:







After removing those screws mentioned, you can remove all 4 panels. I tried to polish all visible aluminium parts.














Added some foam pads to gpu to keep the mesh away from gpu fans. There's also more foam added to prevent side panels vibration. At bottom, that L-shaped aluminium part is the place for ssd. I took some measurements and it's still possible to add internal slot type dvd player. But then i must make new front panel. Decisions, decisions...







Removing four more screws and radiator can now be removed to access memory or whatever.








So, that's all for now. I'll add more pictures, maybe at next week or so.


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## Hattu (Sep 27, 2019)

Fixed those damn fan profiles in bios. I can still hear it easily, but now it's (really) silent enough for my needs. El-cheapo power meter shows me 53 - 59W while idling. YT playing and FB in the background, it's about 57 - 60W. During Furmark (basic settings, 1920x1200) 230 - 240W, Prime95 140-150W. All is good concerning thermals and noise, there's room for improvement, thou.


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## Vario (Sep 27, 2019)

Looks good, corners look clean, I like the color.  Nice job!


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## Hattu (Nov 29, 2019)

I have no place to fix/adjust/make new pieces for my hw. Bought a new ssd few weeks ago, mx500/2TB. What a drive! But! I haven't been able to connect my nas, where my photos are. Thou, I loaned my little 4G server to my son few months ago. Direct connection seems impossible at this time. Time will tell, how my photos survived this turmoil...


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