Jeeves (aka Rock PC)

Over the July 4th weekend I decided it was time to separate the Media PC from Jeeves. In general, the media pc is not the most stable platform and the WAF of motion sensors that FAIL to turn lights on and such is not very good. So it was time to build.

The first step was to find a sufficient ITX case so I dropped by our local computer recycler and browsed the options. Everything from old monitors to newer style ATX cases to rack-ables to old electronics. I settled on a $4 stereo tuner, probably from the 70's with a sticker on the front that says simply "Rock". In addition to the case I grabbed a 20GB Maxtor hard drive, quiet 120mm fan, cables, and some 2.54mm motherboard header leads for the power switch. The other components (i.e. EPIA SP13000, ram, etc) I already had from spare parts.

To convert this old stereo to a working computer case requires some non-standard computer hardware as well. A stop at the local hardware store brought in what was needed.

Motherboard & PSU Mounting:
- 6x1" bolts
- matching nuts
- rubber washers

Suspended Hard Drive:
- twine to suspend hard drive

Back home in the shop I ripped out the guts from the Stereo except for the string-drive tuner dial so that the feel would be authentic. Then, after reconnoitering the positioning of components, marked up the metal case for holes and cuts. The cordless drill and hack saw made fairly quick work of the holes for the fan, power switch, motherboard ports, motherboard mounts, and PSU mounts.

The motherboard and PSU were then connected to the chassis with bolts coming from below, secured with 1 nut to hold position, a second & rubber washer about 1/4 inch above the first for the board to rest on, and the second washer & third nut to hold the boards down (in case I flip the case sideways or up-side-down).

I quickly made a little stand to suspend the hard drive and ran twine under and around the drive. This way it can also handle sideways positions without touching anything. The general idea here is to keep noise down!

Finally the fan was mounted and the thermometer positioned on the CPU heat sink... and I removed the little 40mm fan & heat sink that came with the board with a high flow passive northbridge cooler. If I were compressing/uncompressing video this wouldn't be a very smart idea, but since I'm running low-cpu duty work (home automation) it isn't a big deal. After running for a week the highest CPU temperature recorded was during a virus scan at 55C, well within the range of a Via chip.

The only extra trip to the store was for a CMOS battery as it had been a year or so since the motherboard was connected to power...

Rock on Jeeves!

Jeff