new project: quake 3 box^2 [bad start]

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frenzy

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Feb 28, 2005
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so after going huge it's time to think small I thought and here's my new project:

while a lot of you may think that q3 is dead already, I still enjoy playing it so why not building a rig that's dedicated to that classic? (well q1 ist even more classic, but every gameboy color could run it by now :D )


it's called quake 3 box squared because it's a quake 3 "box" (rig, pc, sys, whatever) in a quake 3 box.

actually the hardware consists of a jetway board with a via 1,5ghz cpu, 256mb ram and a pci geforce 4 mx. the pcb next to the board is the power supply unit with 12V input mode - i'm going to use an external AC to 12V DC converter and an internal 12V to ATX converter (5v, 3.3v etc) sorry, no powerrails this time :p

unfortunately, as you can see, those parts don't fit together like I want them to, so i'm actually looking for a decent low-profile pci 3d card and some low profile ddr-2 ram (damn)

also, i'm still not so sure about the type of harddrive i'm going to use:
2,5" ? USB-Stick ? SD card? CF card?

here are some pics (the image quality will get better with the project progressing :D )

DSC00036.JPG

DSC00037.JPG

DSC00038.JPG

DSC00039.JPG


comments, advices and critics are as always welcome!
 
The over lap looks really small from that veiw, could u not just sand away the edge of the pcb board?
 
If I were you, I'd make an internal structure for the tin that comes in and out. However you will probably have a few issues with cabling. I wouldn't expect a DVDRW of any size to fit in there as well.
 
Quake 3 dead? hah. I play Rocket Arena for a few hours each day, lol. Its still really alive. I have trouble getting into servers sometimes because of all the people that play. Keep up the good work on the project, it looks like a decent start so far. :)
 
Looks really good so far. Its sorta funny to imagine such a small machine running that game....i remember when my giant tower computer could barely run it :p

Looks good, can't wait to see what becomes of it.

On that board problem too. It doesn't look like you will have a problem just shaving off a little bit of that edge to get the clearance you need unless there is something on the otherside we cant see also in the way. If that is the case just get a slightly higher raiser board for the card and problem solved.
 
well unfortunately it isnt that easy actually.

sanding is impossible, i mean its a circuit board and even sanding off 1mm could cut off a circuit path


and i cant use a higher riser card because i'm already at the upper limit of what i can get into the tin..

i think I'll try a flexible riser and some low profile ram stick for now :eek:
 
You could cram a 2.5" HD in there. That's what I would do, as getting a USB stick to boot has caused me alot of trouble in the past, and CF cards are slower (than 5400RPM drives at least).

It looks like you could get the video card down flatter by removing the bracket, just make sure to insulate the card from the top of the ethernet port or anthing else it touches. A flexible riser should fix you right up, as you could clear the RAM by putting the card a little more to the rear.

Looks like an interesting project, I like seeing systems crammed into places they don't belong.
 
Glad to see another mini-itx project.. rock on man.

Like others have said, look into a riser for your pci-card.

A small laptop harddrive would probably be best to fit in such a tiny space.
 
nice idea.. here's a bold idea if you're decent with a dremel, cut out the red q3 logo on the front cover, file it down nice and smooth and put a very thin piece of frosted plexi behind it, then add some red led's so it has a nice glow to it.. but, of course, if you don't cut it right you would screw up the whole mod, so it's just an idea :)
 
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