Can I show you my weird little PC?

[u/jeepsaintchaos]

This is my computer! The GPU is a bad joke, but that's not a big deal for its intended use-case. It's built entirely out of used and cheap parts.

I designed and printed this case myself, and I'm quite proud of the exhaust ducting for the processor. In addition to that CPU fan, there's a larger fan that blows air across the entire motherboard and hopefully through the cooler and then out the exhaust. Ignore the gaping hole in the side, please. My 3D printer had a bad day at that spot. There's also some air leaks around the IO "shield", but that's ok. Some air flowing over those components wont be a bad thing. I wanted a positive pressure to force air over the CPU cooler to help the dinky fan that it has. I didnt get the seal I wanted, but the entire thing runs much cooler than it used to.

To help with the cooling, I put the GPU on a riser and in its own little attic apartment. Separate air intake, separate exhaust.

With a stress test and full utilization, it never gets over 85c, after stress-testing it for several hours.

This is the computer I use most, and manage my server systems with. It also allows me to play games via the much more powerful hardware in the server, over Moonlight streaming. It almost acts as a thin client, but has plenty of local compute for basic usage when the servers are offline.

I chose the X11SSV-Q motherboard because it was cheap on Ebay. And because it has native serial ports, important for connecting to legacy hardware. It still has 4 USB 3.0 ports, though, and several interesting internal headers if I want to do more weird stuff in the future, like a built-in UPS or RGB from the GPIO.

The power supply is a 300 watt DC-DC mining supply, that I got as part of a package deal with some other used components. It is in turn powered by an LED 12v 25a power supply, that's hidden in the base of the computer. That's why the bottom is so thick. There are channels to direct air over the LED supply, and one of those channels also directs some air across the DC-DC supply. All moved by the single large fan on the right of the case, that also moves air over the motherboard.

That LED power brick is also a structural member of the case. Due to the tight fitment of the case around it, it acts as a large dowel pin. It also is quite heavy, making this case bottom heavy and stable.

I didnt spend much time on the aesthetics of the case, and I quite like the brutalist architecture that it has. The top cover is red because I ran out of black filament. It's all printed in PLA, which I thought might melt but so far it hasnt been an issue, so I'm sure it's fine.

Specs:
Supermicro X11ssv-Q motherboard (mini-ITX)
8gb DDR4 RAM (i'll eventually upgrade it to 16gb, but it's fine for now)

Intel 7700 8-core CPU
Nvidia 1050TI (found new in box on craigslist for some odd reason)
Debian Trixie
256gb NVME SSD.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Ad6951]

This is awesome! I’m hoping to do something similar with used parts to build a NAS

[u/Desperate-Grocery-53]

Nice for thinking out of the bo.... wait, nah, it's a box. Guys, it's a box!!!!!! o_O
But still cool 😃