Making (not remodeling) a Computer

[Angus A Fitziron]

Looking good Edith!

Is 47^oC ok? First, are you measuring with the side panel off? To get meaningful readings, you should operate the machine in it's normal working configuration as leaving panels off disturbs the air flow. Assuming that is OK, 47 is alright - the Intel sheet says 72 is the maximum temperature measured at the core which I think the ASUS does. I notice you are using standard fans and CPU cooler so at this stage I wouldn't worry. You will probably get a benefit from tidying up the cables. The power cable in particular causes problems so when all internal wiring is finished try to clip it back out of the airflow (you will have to use intuition as to where that is!) Tidy is always good.

The cooling of standard cases always confuses me. The CPU fan sucks air out of the case and blows it onto the CPU, the heated air exiting the CPU heatsink round the sides, back into the CPU case to be re-cycled through the heat sink again! The only relief to this is the case fan (the 80mm one on the back, and the PSU fan removing air from the case, allowing fresh air to be drawn in, hence the need to have the case side on to check temperatures. Air gets sucked in all round the case through vents and leaks which seems really unpredictable. So, my choice is a big fan at the front of the case, sucking cool air in and slightly pressurising the case, so hot air now leaks out every poer as well as being sucked out the PSU! (Although my Lian Li has two air circuits, one which is the main case, CPU and Mobo, pressurised by a 120mm fan and the PSU in a seperate channel, cooling hard drives on the way in.)

So, looking good, as I say. Remember the vents when you decorate the case and keep an eye on the temperatures as you go.

[Wormster]

Igor has taken my spare Shuttle X small form factor PC and worked it over, it has an AMD Maxton processor, 2Mb of ram, a half terabyte sata hard drive and a 6 USB2 I/O card. He had to obtain a sata to ide converter card in order that the hard drive can "talk" to the processor, unfortunately Igor could not upgrade the processor any further as the mainboard will not take anything more powerful. As for the operating system he ditched the original windowz Xp Pro and gone for the open sourced UBUNTU. Oh yes in order to allow the thing to run cool Igor has removed ALL of the covers, so you can see all its internal gubbins! The beauty of this thing is that the processor is liquid cooled and so far has cost under fifty English pounds! I expect that in the future Igor will make a few cosmetic changes, as this is one of his "work in progress" projects.

[Herbert West]

And lets not forget the fine art of wire-fu, especially if you're thinking about adding a window.

Using zip ties and shrink tubing in addition to tucking all those loose wires underneath and behind things can really improve the look of your inner workings.

[Edith Myrrh]

Thanks very much!
I'm in multiple computer classes at the moment--one's more into programming and software; the other is the class in which I've built a (nominally) working computer from parts, troubleshooting as I went.
The temperature was taken with all the sides screwed on, in the first dry run of the system.
The computer is now snug in its spot at home (!), and in actually getting to run it for more than just a moment or two I've discovered new things that need to be done for it to be truly functional in the many ways I hope to use it. For one thing, a graphics card--I'm not a gamer, but I am an amateur photographer with a digital camera and even the fonts were looking a bit blocky when I began looking around. Next on the list was a wireless networking card. Both have been obtained, and I'll be putting them in at the next viable opportunity (I'm now in the last few weeks of classes, after that is Finals...) Any tips/suggestions on those procedures?
Also, is it necessary to have a sound card for most normal-general uses of a computer? In my current set-up my monitor has built-in speakers, but the only input/output is for a VGA. I could rig various cables and converters for an HDMI cable, or just be cheap and use a separate pair of speakers, but in looking around at how to fix this problem I've also seen some adamantly stating that in such cases a sound card is required. I'd rather not have to keep buying various little parts (unless I must), and would appreciate advice on how best to settle this. The modem has made the appropriate sounds whilst booting up, if that's any indicator. However, I must admit I am absolutely addicted to music, so some degree of sound quality is a must.
As for cutting a window into the case, I don't quite think it would work anymore with what I know now of the computer's set-up. Besides, I'd be home for the holidays and my relatives are slightly alarmed at the thought of slightly-klutzy me being armed with a hand saw or other sharp implement!
Thanks very much for everyone's input,
-Edith

[Angus A Fitziron]

Hi Edith,
Looking at your previous pictures, it looks like you are running an ASUS P8H61 - M LE motherboard. If so, this has a Realtek ALC887 audio chip (3x analogue out, 1x SPDIF out header) on board, so looking at your handbook for the motherboard should help you get the best out of this audio without having to add another card. You don't have to connect the mini jack plug from the back of the PC to the monitor speakers. You can, for example route it to an Aux input on your hi-fi / music centre / whatever you have to play music on! The indicator is that there is also an SPDIF header. This means that one of the little sockets on the motherboard can be equipped with a cable which has a socket that looks like an RCA audio (phono) on the other end, or even an optical port, it depends what is available. I guess it is unlikely to have the part in the motherboard box, but if it has then use it. Then you can connect to an SPDIF input on, for example an amplifier or digital recorder. This should give you a better sound, but the Realtek codec should be OK to begin with, that's what I use on my machine.

When choosing a graphic card, be aware that you will most probably block off one or more of the other PCI slots, so plan carefully!

Good luck and thanks for the update.