Project L.O.S.I.A.S. Modified Sugo (LCD,TEC, and SLI)

craigbru

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
1,451
Hello everyone. I've finally decided to post my formal worklog here at the [H]. I've teased a few pics on these very forums, but this log should give you all a better idea of my progress and intentions. Since I actually started this mod in December, the worklog follows a timeline starting back then. I'm not going to edit out my references to days passing, so if things seem a little off, that may be why. So, on with the log...


12/20/06

Well, things are about to get interesting...

For while now, I've been trying to decide what my next mod will be. I've been really anxious to start a new project, but the direction I was taking, was still undecided. Until tonight, that is. As the current owner of two P series Shuttles, I'd really like to purchase another Shuttle. However, I feel that the current Shuttles are a little lacking in upgrade options. I feel that even the new P2 released next month, may not have the expandability I'm looking for. The most obvious solution, if I want to stay SFF, would be to get a micro-ATX case. So, with that in mind, I purchased a Silvertone SG01 a short time ago. A few of the benefits are obvious, but the biggest to me, is the fact that I can keep the case and still upgrade the hardware. Now of course, I can't have just any old case, it's got to be modded!. With the success of my first mod still fairly fresh, I've decided to up the ante in a very large way.

For the time being, I plan on using most of my existing hardware. All parts currently in my SN26P, with the addition of an eVGA NF-44 motherboard and a Silverstone Strider ST75F power supply, will make this thing tick. From that point on, things will get a little more involved. Below are a few notable additions that will set this thing apart.

* Custom aluminum faceplate
* Dual slot load DVD burners
* 7" Xenarc widescreen touch display
* 4 hard drives, 2 of which will be Raptors (Update: Due to space constraints, only 3 drives will fit)
* Custom fan speed controller
* Dual nVidia 8800 GTX's
* Last, but not least, this to cool the CPU.

Go ahead, tell me I'm crazy! I've set myself a pretty lofty goal here, especially with the addition of the cooler, but isn't that the fun part? While the interior of the case will require significant modification, the differences on the outside will appear to be mostly cosmetic. I also realize that my CPU will be limiting my GPU's pretty severely for the moment, but since I run 3 monitors, it would be nice not to have to enable SLI to play a game with all the eye candy cranked up.

While this project is currently in the planning stages, I would anticipate the work starting sometime in early January. Of course I will keep a worklog going, and update it frequently once I start. Anyway, I'm always open to questions, comments, or criticism.


12/23/06

Here's a little teaser of the panel I'm working on. The layout has been changing daily, and nothing is final, but it gives you an idea of the direction that I am heading. The only thing I am unsure of at this point, is whether or not I like the design of the vents on either side of the screen. You can see that I plan on modding a fan speed controller in to the vent on the right.


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12/28/06

Well, I've been busy ordering parts to get this project moving forward. I've got a trio of Sunon 60mm fans, various silicone fan mounts, and other assorted noise dampening hardware, on the way as of today. This afternoon I received my SilverStone PSU and fan speed controller. This weekend I'll get the aluminum picked up, in addition to any screws and similar hardware I might need. There are a few other things undecided at this point, but within a week, I should have everything finalized. Tonight I'll start stripping the case and LCD so I can my get my faceplate design finished. Stay tuned... pics to come.
 
12/28/06

As promised, here are a few pictures of the project officially starting. This is a much bigger project than my last mod, so I don't believe I'll make progress as quickly as before. However, I'll do what I can to keep the log updated, and my work current.

I've just started to strip the case of all the pieces I don't need. There will be very little left by the time I'm done. Even the drive bays will have to go. I was hoping to get it removed, but for some reason my drill bits are missing. Not good... lol.
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My bits may be gone, but my screwdrivers aren't. The Xenarc LCD will soon be only a shell of it's former self. Literally.
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The casing has been removed from the rear.
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Have you ever wondered what the resistive panel on a touchscreen LCD looks like? This is pretty much it. It's a transparent sheet about 1mm thick or so. When separated from the LCD you can see that it isn't completely clear. The touchscreen doesn't come without a cost, as the display shows an ever-so-slight lack of definition because of it.
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Here I'm just starting to cut out the template for the front panel. This is a crucial part of the process. The tolerances are so tight, that I've got to make sure everything aligns perfectly. While the Sugo may be larger than my Shuttle, the amount of room for error is much less. The LCD takes up almost every bit of available space on the panel. It may not appear so from the front, but it's certainly evident from the rear. I've only got about 1 mm to spare between the DVD drive and the top of the LCD.
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1/2/07

Alright, I've been busy with other obligations, but I've got a few updates for ya.

Well, I never did find my missing drill bits, but I think these new ones will do nicely.
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Here it the Sugo case completely stripped, and ready for some aluminum work.
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I've started to make the brackets for the hard drives.
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You can see how the hard drives will fit on to the brackets. The drives themselves will be mounted via vibration dampening screws and rubber washers.
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In this last pic, you can get an idea of where the hard drives will be located. My goal is to have two racks located in a stacked position on the left side of the case. At this point, I've got to finalize the layout of my front panel and get it ordered. Until it arrives, I won't know for sure the placement of the optical drives. I may be limited to only 3 drives if I can't make enough room for the optical drives to mount. I'm also going to be limited by the placement of the graphics cards. I won't be able to get the height of the racks in the case, until I do a test fit with the motherboard and video cards in place.
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On the more trivial side of things, I’ve been trying to think of a name for this project. Which reminds me, why does every project need a freaking name? Lol, just the same, I think I may have come up with one. At the very least, I’ll use it until I come up with something better. The inspiration came from a friend who recently told me that I was putting a “lot of sh*t in a Sugo” Well, for some reason, an acronym popped in to my head. So, I think I’m going to call it LOSIAS (lo-sye-us). I don’t know, it’s got a certain ring to it…
 
1/5/07

Woohoo! Panel has been ordered! I should have it in about 2 weeks or so. Until then, I've got some minor things to do. However, most of the work will have to wait until the panel arrives. I can't start cutting in to the case until I know the panels' exact placement. I should be able to get my drive cages mounted, and a support for the PSU made though. With any luck I can get that completed this weekend.

Here's the panel as I ordered it. For any of you looking closely, you may see 4 small gray circles that look out of place compared to the rest of the panel. Those happen to be blind holes on the reverse side of the panel for mounting the LCD.

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1/8/07

I've got another small update here, as I had a little to much fun this past weekend. My headache finally went away this afternoon enough that I could do a little grinding... :cheese:

Anyhow, here I've marked and drilled the pilot holes for the hard drive mounts. Nothing to complicated, but I wanted the holes to be accurate.
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Since the holes had to be to the outside of the rail as much as possible, I actually had to do a little screw modification. I had to grind off the excess flange on the screws. Here you can see before, and after.
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In order to grind the flange off easily, I screwed them in to an old hard drive I had lying around, and dremelized 'em.
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Here we have the finished rail with all holes drilled and the grommets in place. Hopefully this will go a long ways towards reducing the nose and vibration in the case. Now I've got one more rail to go...
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1/19/07

I've got a small update and a couple pics for you guys. Over the last week or so, I've not been able to get a whole lot done. So much of my progress has been held up while waiting for the panel. In the meantime however, I've received almost of of my missing parts. Including various screws and hardware, in addition to a trio of 60mm fans.

This picture here shows the new aluminum brace responsible for holding the PSU in place, as well as adding structural integrity to the case. The forward part of the brace will also be used for assisting in the mounting of the laptop drives and the CoolIT cooler.
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Here we have a closeup of the countersunk rivets. It's... well... riveting.... [/lame joke]
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1/22/07

As promised...


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I'd like to thank Karen and crew, once again FPE really came through for me. Flawless work guys! I couldn't be happier with the finished product. I don't recall how many times I measured and remeasured everything. It was plenty. The end result payed off. Everything fits perfectly!
 
1/27/07

Okay guys, I've got a small update here. I've been working on the Sugo faceplate, and let me tell you, this thing has been an absolute pain! It's so thick, that it takes forever to get it shaped how I want. In fact I'm still working on it, but hope to have it finished tomorrow. Lots of filing to do! Anyway, here's a couple pics of my progress.

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1/31/07

I didn't have much time to work on this last night, but what little I did, made me realize a few things. First of all, the dual DVD drives take up slightly more width than I currently have available by approximately 2mm. As luck would have it, this happens to be how much space is taken up by the brace that I added to the top of the case. I still need the brace in place, but I will need to cut a slot in it for the DVD drive. The second thing I realized, is that I may only be able to use 3 hard drives instead of the 4 that I had planned. It looks like the left DVD drive will take up a little more space than I had hoped. This is mostly due to the fact that the 8800 GTX cards are a little taller than most cards, including my 7800's. This fact moves my entire hard drive mounting bracket upward more than I planned. One option I have is to find an alternate method of mounting the hard drives, but I can't add any width to the drives themselves. The tolerance is very tight between the PSU and the side of the case. I have no doubt I will figure it out, but the changes were unexpected.


A few more updates for you guys...



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2/6/07

I've got a few pictures of the drive assembly and mounting. You can probably see from these pics, that the tolerance is indeed very tight. Everything has to be lined up perfectly, or things won't work. The last thing I need are drives that aren't functional because a slot is in the wrong place.

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This is amazing. You did a really good job.


Who did you contract to do your metal front plate for you? I'm looking for a vendor who can do such things in the future...
 
2/10/07

The work continues! I've had a fair amount of time this weekend, so I've got a few updates to post here. I'm anxiously awaiting my parts, but have found a few things to do until they arrive.

Here we have the start of the fan controller bracket. Pilot holes rock!
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The bracket has been bent to the height needed.
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I finally get to work with a little modders mesh. This is great stuff, and gives me a look that I really like.

I've cut a piece large enough to cover the vent openings. I just need to cut out the centers where the fan controllers will be placed.
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I picture from the front with the mesh in place... Only one more side to go!
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A test fit shows that everything lines up as it should. I needed to make no adjustments.
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2/11/07

Gah! I killed my Dremel! I was able to get a bracket for the PSU done before it died...

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2/12/07

Parts, parts, and more parts... It's like Christmas all over again.

Assorted cables and fan silencers, in addition to a behemoth of a fan. The fan is a 120mm x 38mm YS Tech model, capable of moving about 129 cubic feet per minute. I hope I can keep the RPM's low enough for quiet operation. If the CPU doesn't keep cool, it won't be the fans fault!
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The Freezone
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This is the approximate placement in the case.
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2/14/07

Another night goes by, and a little more work done...

Tonight was pretty productive. I was able to get the mounting for the Freezone completed, and attached the fan controller to the case.

The 120mm fan I bought won't fit without modification. So, for the time being, I'm using the Freezone, as is, including the original 92mm fan. Since I am using the adapter that came with the cooler, I should be able to swap out the fan when I have a little more time.
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Here is the completed bracket. If you'll look closely, you will see a fan silencer on the adapter plate. All fans in the case will have them, in hopes of keeping vibration to a minimum.
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Here is the bracket in place on the case.
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The fan bracket was simply riveted in to place.
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Tomorrow, all of my remaining parts should arrive, including my video cards. A test fit of the cards in the case, will determine the placement of the hard drive mounting. Things should really come together at that point. Stay tuned...
 
2/15/07

We're smoking now! All my parts have arrived with the exception of a short cable kit for my PSU.

A pair of 8800GTX's, 2 GB of OCZ memory, a 4 GB OCZ memory stick (for ready boost), and copy of Vista Ultimate.
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These cards are huge! They make my 7800's look pretty lame by comparison.
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I had to cut remove and cut away part of the aluminum shield on the Freezone. It was long enough to touch the inner video card in it's stock position.
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Here is a shot with the cooler mounted in place. You'll notice that I have removed the pump from it's stock location on the cooler. It interfered with the video card, and also made the water block tubing a little too short to comfortably reach the CPU socket.
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This is the new mount that I will be using for the pump.
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The pump is mounted securely to the case. It also has the added benefit of allowing a little more airflow through the cooler heatsinks.
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Tomorrow night I'm hoping to get the hard drive bracket in place. Until then...
 
2/20/07

I've got a few updates here to keep you all satisfied for a little while longer. ;-)


I've added new 60mm fans to the front and rear of the case. The fans sit directly in front of, and behind the hard drives. This should create a kind of 'tunnel effect', and hopefully keep the hard drives cool.

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Here you can see the position in of the hard drive rack in relation to the fans.

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I am using an OCZ memory cooler to keep the temps under control.

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This is the modified shroud for the Freezone. I've cut two slots in the bottom for routing of the water lines.

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Here is a shot of the test fit. Everything looks like it should work. Tolerances are indeed very tight. There will be no quick parts removal in this case. That being said, it looks like my planning will pay off.

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Well, that's it for now. I've got to get back to work!
 
2/25/07

Another few days have gone by, and a little more work as been done. Time has been so hard to come by, but I've taken every opportunity I have, to get a little something done.

Anyone that had worked on the Sugo knows how terribly difficult is is to find a good place for the front USB/Audio/Firewire cable. It's at least as twice as long as it needs to be, and if you value a clean interior, it's likely to cause you a little stress. The picture below represents way more work than I care to admit.

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Here we finally get to see the hard drive rack in it's installed position. There will be an riser on the back part of the rack, that will hold a third hard drive. The fourth drive that I had hoped for, simply won't be possible in this configuration. Two things have made this change necessary. First, the 8800's are a little taller than I had hoped they would be. This raised the overall height of the rack. Second, due the height of the rack. the DVD drive now takes up the space that I had hoped a hard drive would go.

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Here you can see the hard drive rack in relation to the DVD drives.

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This is a shot of the center support that I'm working on. This support will be responsible for holding the DVD drives in place once completed.

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2/27/07

Another day, another update....

I've almost got the internals of the rig finished up. In fact, short of sleeving a few cables, I'm very close to being able to pull parts out of my SN26P. I'll still have more work to do, but I am so close to being able to fire this thing up!

Tonight I was able to get the DVD drives in place and mounted.

This simple bracket is just enough to hold the drives in place once in the case.

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Here you can see the bracket secured in place. It holds the rear of the drives at the right height, in addition to ensuring that they don't move towards the rear.

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Here are two shots from the front of the case. If you'll look closely, you can see how little room there is to spare on either side of the face plate. This is one of the reasons I spent so much time filing a few weeks ago.

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You might also notice the rather unsightly appearance of the original Sugo faceplate. That will change shortly. In fact, the face plate will make or break this entire project. It will be the focal point, and centerpiece of the case. It's also where most of my attention to detail should pay off. I expect to be working on that part of the project shortly. Stay tuned.
 
4/2/07

I thought I'd drop a quick post to let you all know what I've been up to. As of right now, I'm trying to finish up the interior detail work. I've been sleeving cables and trying to figure out wire routing. I'm currently waiting for some ATX crimp pins to arrive. The PCI-E cables for the video cards are no less than a foot longer than they need to be. There's no way I'm going to stuff those cables in there. It's got to be clean. The replacement pins will allow me to shorten the stock cables to a much more manageable length. I'm also going to shorten all the other stock cables as needed, with the exception of the stock USB and Firewire... at least for now.

A couple of other additions... I'm also going to be modding in the PN18 wireless adapter from my Shuttle, and incorporating an internal USB hub. The internal hub will handle the touchscreen, wireless adapter, and memory stick for Ready Boost.

I'll get some pictures up when I can, but I'm currently laptop only. I've removed the processor, memory, and hard drives from the Shuttle and they're currently in the Sugo. In fact, I was actually able to fire it up this afternoon. All seems well, and now I'm really anxious to get this thing in a usable state!


4/3/07

I've had the computer running in a Frankenstein state for the last few hours. It's not pretty, but it's necessary. I'm currently checking for stability, and will let it run overnight to see if problems arise. I'll say this though, the Freezone absolutely rocks! I've had both cores maxed for two hours now, and it's peaked at 20C! That's 4 degrees below ambient! Idle temps are around 6C. The Freezone, in addition to the active memory cooling, should hopefully allow for some great overclocks. I truly can't wait to benchmark this thing.


4/7/07


I didn’t have time to make much progress last night. Although I had enough time to realize that I need a few mm’s more clearance between the Sugo face, and the case. I’m going to have to fabricate a spacer to get the clearance that I need. This may end up working in my favor, however. If I’m going to attempt to light the acrylic panels, this will give me an easy way to incorporate a lighting sytem that will be subtle. The downside? I may have to do a little more filing on the face…

On the more exciting side of things, I’ve decided to give the internal USB hub even more functionality. I’ve purchased a bluetooth networking adapter that will be integrated as well. In addition, I’ve also added a bios savior to prevent bios flash horrors from happening. At this point, I feel like I’m one step away from having this thing do my laundry and wash my car....


4/8/07

I don't know if this update is terribly exciting, but I do have a few pictures of the wiring work in progress, along with some other random case shots.

Sleeved fan controller wiring.

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I think the Shuttle is a little jealous...

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In order to prevent the possibility of shorts, I have attached a protective plastic shield to the back if the inside video card.

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Here is a shot fom the left side of the case. You can easily see how the CPU block fits on the motherboard, as well as getting an idea of the memory cooler positioning.

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A couple of shots from the top.

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4/8/07

These are just a few pictures of the sleeving I've been working on. I refuse to be a cable stuffer. Everything will be sized to fit the case.

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This is the Feezone circuit board tucked neatly out of the way.

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The trusty ol' bios savior.

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There's more to come with these two items here. The PN18 wireless adapter, and a stripped USB hub will both find a home in the case.

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Here I've attached the extension wire that came with the PN18. This will allow some flexibility in placing the adapter internally.

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That's it for now, but I'll get more done as soon as I can. Including the much awaited face plate...
 
3/11/07

Sometimes I feel like attention to detail is both my greatest strength, and my greatest weakness. There's no doubt that I've got something very particular in mind with this mod, and with any luck, it will pay off. This worklog certainly does take some time to update, and I could write a little more when I post, but everybody loves pictures, myself included. So, that's why I keep posting. There are plenty of logs that I've seen before that have inspired me, so it's only fair to try and give a little bit of that back.

Out of an entire Saturday, I only had about an hour to work, but I did get a little more done.

Here is a picture of the hole I made for the bios savior switch. I enlarged the existing switch hole on the back of the Sugo. A little filing and sanding, and I came up with exactly what I wanted.

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I also took the time to drill a hole for the wireless adapter antenna.

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Here you can see where the wireless adapter is now placed. It's mounted securely, yet is completely out of the way. It also won't impede airflow in any way.

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Finally, here's a shot with the switch in place.

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3/13/07

It's alive! Muwahahaha....

While it's certainly not done, I'm far enough along that I can power it up and use it when needed. I've been getting a little behind in my podcasts, so it's a welcome relief to have the computer in a usable state.

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To do list:

- Finish face plate
- Integrate internal usb hub and wire associated electronics (bluetooth, wireless, memory stick, touchscreen)
- Finish mount for additional hard drive
- Sleeve and wire hard drive fans
- Cut new vent holes in case cover and paint
- To be determined ...
 
3/16/07

I've got another update for all of you. With the arrival of a new hard drive today, I was able to finish the new mount. I've also got the internal USB hub in place. I think I'm making pretty good progress, but it seems that there's always something left to be done!

Here's a donor USB hub. I've cracked it open, as I really only need what's inside. Most of the hub case is wasted space anyway

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Here is the hub's new home. It's easily accessible with the face removed, but it's also out of the way. Of course, once everything is plugged in to it, there should be little need for changes,

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Wow, you gotta love these low profile Seagate drives! The largest currently available is 160GB, but that's the perfect size for a new OS drive.

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Here are the new additional hard drive brackets.

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Finally you can see how the new hard drive fits in to the case. This would have been difficult to pull off with a standard hard drive, but not impossible. I thought I'd take advantage of the extra room, to allow for more ventilation around the drives. The fans on the front and rear, seem to do a very nice job of keeping the temps down.

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3/20/07

So, what did I get done last night? Well, no actual modding, it was all strictly software related. I’ve got Vista and a few programs installed, as well as VPC 2007, XP, Win 98 (for some legacy games that just don’t like anything newer), and Kubuntu. I must say that everything has installed and run flawlessly so far. Vista seems to like my machine quite a bit. I haven’t run any benchmarks yet, but casual usage is every bit as quick, if not quicker than XP. I also was able to drop my boot times by a good 10 seconds by enabling ReadyBoost on a 4gb OCZ memory stick incorporated into my internal USB hub. Although not listed as Vista compatible, the MSI Star Key Bluetooth adapter was immediately detected, and found my phone without difficulty. I’ll get some more software installed, but like what I see so far. There are a few issues that may make Vista a dealbreaker for me, but I’m going to reserve the final judgement until I’ve used it a little longer.


3/26/07

Wow, was that just another weekend that went by? I was gone again over the weekend, so the modding starts again tonight. You know, everybody seems to wonder exactly how much this thing weighs. I’ll try and find out shortly. I look at the case myself, and see very little wasted space, and I confirm that when I go to pick it up. This thing is solid!

Last week I started on the face plate, but ended up trying to get some software installed instead. I also was having an undetermined hardware problem. Basically, I was having spontaneous shutdowns. Everything was checking out okay. Temps were low, wires were secure, I couldn’t find any problems of any kind. I started to troubleshoot one component at a time, and have traced it to my internal USB hub. I have ordered a replacement, and things should be okay from here on out. Since I’ve unplugged the hub, I’ve had no problems.


4/16/07

Not much of an update, but then again, filing isn't that exciting. I've got the holes cut out, and am now finishing up the details. I should finish it yet tonight, but I won't get the updated pics up until tomorrow.


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4/18/07

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I taped the panel in place to drill the mounting holes. A steady hand and accurate marking ensure that the holes are exactly where I want them.

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Time to do a little buffing...

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Almost there. I've got just a little more polishing to do, but it's oh so close.

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Finally, here is the panel sitting in place on the face. You can see the carbon fiber film has been applied, and this is pretty close to the look I wanted. I've still got to finish a little polishing, and actually mount the panel, but I'm getting there.

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4/21/07

I've got a few more pictures once again. I think this is going to be a big weekend for modding. I was hoping to get a picture of the face on the case, but I didn't get the opportunity to do that tonight. I got some other work done just the same.


I'll keep the comments light here, as the pictures do most of the speaking for me.

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4/22/07

More updates! For all of you patiently waiting for a few pics of this thing together, your wish has been granted. Although still not finished, you should get some idea of what the final result should be. Enjoy!

A little foam weatherstripping around the LCD hole will ensure a solid and tight fit with no light leakage.

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Everything looks like it should fit in place.

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In order to mount the LCD, I had to fabricate my own mounting clips. I needed 4 of these little guys.

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Ooh, that looks purty....

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Now I've got to get the face mounted. Since the LCD takes up a little more room behind the face than I had hoped, I'm going to have to build custom spacers to hold the face out about 1/8". Unfortunately, that means I will also have to move my DVD drives forward. I've got a replacement motherboard to drop in, so I might as well get it all done at the same time. Stay tuned.
 
4/27/07

I’ve been brainstorming a little this morning… I’m thinking I need a third video card…

A low profile PCI card to be exact. I’ve got a USB video adapter, but I’ve only currently got mirrored display support with the drivers in Vista. I can always use one of my 8800’s, but then I lose a display in SLI. With some semi-serious modification, I think I can work a flexible PCI extender and video card into the case. Hmm.. some planning to do I must....


4/28/07

Well, I went ahead and ordered one of these. Now I have to see where I can fit it in the case. One of these ought to help with that...
 
dude this is awesome and very impressive :) I like it
 
awesome work, i'm truly impressed how you put so much hardware in so tiny space and still looking that organised.
 
It reminds me a little of playing Tetris. Everything has a place. I had to replace the motherboard a week ago, that was a pain, but most normal maintenance isn't that bad.
 
WOW amazing! Thats some really great work, keep it up maybe it will make you some money one day.


Tyler
 
I've got a few updates for you all.

I made a slight change in the way that the DVD drives were mounted. This change was needed to allow for the extra depth needed by the faceplate adapter. I previously had the rear bracket riveted in place. While it worked fine, I decided to substitute bolts in slots to allow for adjustment if needed.

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Here I've marked out where I need to cut the left side of the case.

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A little dremel work and filing, and I've got one side done. I'll get the other side done tomorrow. Then I can get the cover painted, and get the mesh in place.

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not sure how i missed this before... looks good man. I love that case... and i have the non-vga, non-touch screen version of that xenarc 7" and i wish i had that one :)

i got mine on ebay for $65 a year ago and I took it out of the case and installed it in a picture frame.


looks good man
 
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